Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill sounded off on Friday against American brands and companies now facing widening boycotts after they went full “woke” ahead of “Pride Month.”
As reported by Fox News, According to an insider at Target, several rural Target stores in South Carolina, Arkansas, and Georgia relocated their Pride sections following consumer backlash in an attempt to prevent a situation similar to the controversy surrounding Bud Light.
The decision was met with criticism from LGBT groups, including the National Black Justice Coalition, who expressed their disappointment at Target’s response to alleged “threats,” calling them “deeply disappointing.”
GOP Sens. Marco Rubio, Fla., and Rand Paul, Ky., both took aim at companies marketing ‘Pride’ materials to kids.
“I think to some extent companies have the freedom to say whatever they want,” Rubio told Fox News Digital. “But obviously consumers are going to react. I think in the Target one, which is different from the Bud Light one, the Target one has to do with families that are going into stores and being bombarded, not just with Pride month stuff, but with products specifically designed for children.
“I think that most Americans would say, look, adults can do whatever they want in the privacy of their own lives at home. But when you take the power of corporations and ram it down people’s throats aimed at children, you’re going to have a very visceral reaction,” he continued.
“I think people draw the line there,” Rubio noted further. “And so you’re having them marketing T-shirts and even bathing suits to encourage and celebrate in children, transgenderism and things of that nature, you’re going to get a very strong reaction, especially in parts of the country where people feel very strongly about it.
“So the most offensive thing to me was Target arguing that they’re stepping back from it because of threats to their safety. Consumers are just not shopping there, they’re upset about it. You understand why. Again, most people don’t care what adults want to do, but do not ram it down kids’ throats and don’t target children.”
He added: “I don’t understand this obsession with focusing on children, marketing products to children, entertainment to children, messaging to children. Using schools to target children. I think that’s where parents are drawing the line.”
Paul agreed: “I think corporations should stay out of trying to sexualize our youth with all kinds of bizarre notions. I’m not a big fan of what Target’s doing, and you won’t see me in Target anytime soon.”
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) said he wasn’t too familiar with the situation at Target but used it to highlight the growing political division in the country.
“The bottom line is, everything that seems to be done in this country now is politics trying to divide,” Manchin told Fox News. “It’s not the country that’s divided, it’s basically the Congress here’s divided and making you pick a side — which side are you on? There’s only one side. The American side. So if you’re going to be on a side, pick the American side.”
“I hope other companies are noticing what happens to businesses that don’t focus on their products and services and their consumers,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told the outlet. “You’re not working on the behalf of shareholders when you’re pushing different social issues. As a business, concentrate on what your business does. If it’s brewing beer and selling beer, concentrate on that.”
“Don’t get involved in politics,” Johnson continued. “Don’t get involved in these social issues. I’m from the private sector. I want businesses to succeed. And the way they succeed is by focusing on their customer service and their products. And that’s what they need to do. So hopefully, other people learn this lesson. It’s pretty amazing it’s happened to Bud Light and possibly Target as well.”
“I think the lesson here is that all those fine American companies, who have CEOs with brains above a single-celled organism, ought to stay out of politics,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., quipped to the outlet.
