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By Mandy Taheri
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Conservative social media users are patting themselves on the back after Tractor Supply Co. announced it would eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion roles; cease sponsorship of Pride events; and withdraw from carbon emission goals, among other changes that halt its "woke agenda."
The Tennessee-based retailer, which sells farm supplies and work maintenance materials, operates in more than 2,200 stores across almost every state. In recent weeks, conservative commentators—such as Robby Starbuck, the director of the anti-transgender film The War on Children—have criticized the company over its "woke agenda."
"We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart," Tractor Supply Co. said in a news release on June 27 before outlining its new initiatives and cessation of old ones.
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The company said it would no longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign; halt sponsorship of "Pride festivals and voting campaigns"; eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion roles; and withdraw from carbon emission goals to focus on land and water conservation.
Tractor Supply Co. posted the statement on X, formerly Twitter, where it has received more than 9.4 million views, 11,000 reposts and 66,000 likes as of Friday morning. Some conservative commentators and political figures, including Donald Trump Jr., celebrated the move by commenting and sharing the statement.
Others, like Starbuck, declared "victory," writing on X: "Massive victory to report. I've exposed the woke agenda @TractorSupply's corporate office for 3 weeks. Now they've responded."
In his post, Starbuck outlined the company's decisions and added: "This monumental change is thanks to all of you who supported my work exposing this, to the whistleblowers in Tractor Supply and my fellow farm owners who respectfully spoke up. I'm working to get more information about these changes but this is a fantastic moment for the fight to banish wokeness, DEI and ESG from the workplace."
Starbuck continued: "This is one of many dominoes to fall to bring back an economy where the customer is king once again and woke politics are eliminated from the workplace. Looking forward to your reactions in the comments!"
As of writing, Starbuck's post has received 1.7 million views.
Tractor Supply Co.'s previous goals included cutting carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2025, achieving "net zero emissions across all operations by 2040" and reducing its water usage by 2025, showed a June 23 screenshot of the rural retailer's website accessed via the Wayback Machine. Its current goals are not available on the website.
The company's DEI goals, set for 2026, were to "double the number of stores where team members mirror the communities it serves," "increase people of color at the manager level and above by 50 percent" and "increase spending with diverse suppliers by 35 percent."
In an email to Newsweek, Tractor Supply Co. referred to the news release and declined to provide additional comment.
On X, some users—including Adrianne Curry, a television personality and the 2003 winner of America's Next Top Model—drew a comparison to Bud Light, which many conservatives boycotted last year after the company created an advertisement with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer.
Curry wrote in a reply to Starbuck's post: "DUDE, look at what you did! BUD LIGHT could take some notes on how to fix yourself after this. The people have far more power than they thought."
Zero Hedge, a right-leaning financial blog and news aggregator site, shared an article with its 1.8 million X followers, writing in the post, "Tractor Supply Nukes DEI To Prevent Itself From Being 'Bud Light'd' By Conservatives."
Trump, the eldest son of the former president, supported Tractor Supply Co.'s move, writing on X: "This is great @TractorSupply. It takes courage to admit when you've gone a stray & it's time more companies acknowledge they are there to serve their actual customers & those communities & not the woke causes of people who would never set foot in your stores. Well Done!"
X user @EndWokeness, who boasts 2.6 million followers, shared the statement with the caption: "A huge win in the war on wokeness. Tractor Supply is eliminating DEI, stopping to fund pride events, is no longer giving its data over to HRC, and ending its climate goals. Boycotts work. Vote with your wallet."
Riley Gaines, a swimmer and the host of the Gaines for Girls podcast, reposted Tractor Supply Co.'s statement, writing in the caption: "It only took @TractorSupply losing $2 billion before they decided to stick to selling farm equipment rather than engaging in activism. I believe this is the strongest 'apology' statement we've seen from a corporation so far. Props to them for listening & responding to their base."
Paul A. Szypula shared a video of Starbuck showing the company's stock falling "because of this woke garbage." He wrote in the caption, "Tractor Supply just caved thanks to immense social pressure and the tireless efforts of @robbystarbuck," adding, "Boycotts work!"
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