Glenn Beck reveals leaked internal messages between the members of Target’s “Pride + Business Council” that took place during last year's boycott. Target went off the rails last Pride Month and offered “tuck-friendly” bathing suits, chest binders, and transgender-themed merchandise for children. Americans responded with a boycott that sent Target running back into the closet. Thanks to an employee from Target corporate who wished to stay anonymous, Glenn exposes for the first time ever the radical response of Target employees, including a witch hunt that ensued when certain employees defended Target’s rollback of controversial LGBTQ+ merchandise as a reasonable business move. In the end, Target leadership received a list of demands from employees that included a call for Target to bring back the merchandise that started the controversy in the first place. Despite the internal pressure, Target toned down its Pride collection this year. Should reasonable Americans take the win, or is there yet another battle for the culture just around the corner?
TranscriptBelow is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: So you're the first to hear this exclusive leak, that we received from a source inside Target headquarters who thought the public needed to know how some of Target's employees responded to last year's boycott. First, let me speak directly to the people that made all of this possible.
Women, I know it was hard to boycott Target.
We were there. We -- we as husbands, and men saw you. Like you weren't busy enough.
We saw you drive past that bright red sign. And go from store to store, to be able to boycott. With us. With Bud Light.
I mean, it's beer.
We will just reach in the fridge for another beer. Victory. Real victory is yours with Target. But it's Pride month again.
Which means, it's been one year since Target rolled out a collection of Pride onesies, tuck-friendly bathing suits, chest binders for girls, and apparel made by some transgender Satan apologist. Not today, Jesus. Says Satan.
This year, prayed month, Target has a much more toned down collection. Like, for instance, let me show you their new Pride Month charcuterie board.
That says, it's giving charcuterie. Has no rainbows or Pride symbols on it at all. It's just a wooden board.
I guess maybe Target thinks charcuterie is gay enough on its own. I'm not really sure, but it's a tame collection of rainbow wine bottles and clothes and nothing like last year.
Also, unlike last year. There was nothing for kids. So victory.
Now, some Target locations won't have any Pride merchandise this year. It will only be sold online in the stores. Where Target says, they've seen historically the strongest sales demand.
Okay. That makes sense as a business. To be clear, Target, I don't think is doing this because corporate had some road to Damascus moment, and decided, you know what, we should depoliticize this company and maybe sell things people want.
Remember, this is the same company, that in 2016, when most didn't even know, you know, that there were 96 genders.
They said, put a statement out that said, we welcome. I'm quoting. Transgender team members and guests. To use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.
Well, that make me comfortable when my kids want to go and try something out. Their 2023 sustainability and governance report. This Target is one of them that does ESG on their own. Says, their goal is to take urgent action. To combat climate change and its impacts.
The Target website says, Target is an inclusive and antiracist organization. That's key.
It's not non-racist. It has to be. You have to have a little racism to combat racism, you see.
So the way I see it. There's only one reason Target has pulled back on their Pride collection.
And that is you. But now Target is a really, really tricky position. And that's because, on one hand, they can't afford another boycott. The New York Post reported that after last year's boycott, Target lost ten billion dollars in market valuation, in ten days.
That's a lot. On the other hand, they have created a brand around being basically woke. And just like Disney, the inmates are now in charge of the asylum. And employees at Target, many are very woke and militant. Now, to make matters really complicated, that radical staff they have to deal with, was not happy. Last year.
Last year, our team was given exclusive access to internal messages, that took place on Target's slack chapel for their pride plus business council.
We found culture wars that are taking place, because Target is taking a stand and saying, wait. We're going to slow down on this.
And the people were not just boycotting.
Internally, the employees started a little revolt.
And let me show you what we were sent and found.
Last year, when you were deciding to boycott Target for their choice to sell chest binders to children.
Paneled underwear.
Target hosted a town hall to discuss the move to pull back on some of their more controversial merchandise.
The people of the pride plus business council, were not pleased inside of Target.
Up said, quote.
It feels like leadership wants to keep support for LGBTQ causes on the down low. Like they want to be able to point it out to people. You know, make a fuss.
But they don't want to advertise it for people who might disagree. Senior management for philanthropic operations agreed, saying, quote, reasoning with the down low piece for real!
See, what they're saying is, Target while -- while we were saying Target went too far.
The employees were upset, that they hadn't gone far enough.
And now they were pulling back. One employee said, see. We need to cater to the bigots to get our sales up.
Okay. But it wasn't just the town hall announcement that started the internal firestorm at Target. It was the comments in the community chat, while it happened. The leaked messages were given to us, in backward order.
So as we went through them, we saw the Pride-plus council's reaction to the comments, before we saw the comments, themselves.
Remember, we weren't given access to the actual conversation, just the comments.
So we don't know what was said, by the Target leadership during the meeting.
But we were given snapshots. And screen shots of what happened in the chat.
So we don't know what they said, at the leadership of Target.
But it must have been pretty horrible.
Based on just the reactions. The comments must have been awful. From Target leadership.
Here are a few examples of what the chat said, during it.
How the Pride Plus business council was reacting. JPG 22, here. I've been through a lot in my life. I have PTSD to show for it.
And I have to say, that was the most gaslighty dystopian thing I ever witnessed in a while. Here's another one: JPG 24.
We need to protect ourselves. There are consequences for hateful statements and displays.
So now, what did Target say that has made their employees say, we have to protect ourselves from these hateful statements and displays?
Number 27.
A few more. I'm still in shock, and disgusted.
I'm sure a lot of people are examining, whether they want to continue to be a team member after all of this.
Kind of hard to get back to work after that one, huh?
So at this point, we're assuming something truly terrible had happened in that community chat.
The acronym HR was repeated over and over again in the chat.
And people were talking about filing ethics complaints.
One woman put the name and email of an intern, who she said was advocating for discrimination.
Wow! Another intern was exposed for basically putting thumbs down on a comment.
Which promoted one of the lead buyers for Target's pride collection to say, each person should be submitted to ethics.
An intern who gave a thumb's down on a comment, should be submitted to ethics.
So what horrible things were these people saying, to elicit such an extreme reaction.
Surely, they had to be sexist, racist tirades, that started this chaos.
Well, here's what we found. And you may want to sit down for this one. Because it's pretty darn shocking.
Here's one of the comments, that we found.
A woman who was a Christian. Hang on just a second.
That wrote this.
I'm a Christian. And I don't support violence against guests or team members.
Okay. I also don't hate people who view differently than myself.
However, for some to say my Biblical views are disgusting, that's not inclusive.
Wow! Now, it gets worse.
The people in the chat need to look at past year's Pride assortment. The backlash this year has been specific to gender-plus children, to imply leadership is now bowing down to bigots is highly offensive.
Then this: A lead designer, who had been at Target for 25 years, defended the people, who felt a little weird about Target partnering with a designer, who currently produces products that say, Satan respects pronouns.
This lead designer at Target said, so someone who doesn't think a partnership with an artist who glorifies Satan in their products is a bigot? Would Target partner with a similar individual who had a racist-themed product, or would you have the same feeling towards those partnerships?
Maybe quit calling names, because their beliefs are different than yours. The most inflammatory comment that we could find was made by a woman who started working at Target in the early 2000s.
She said, quote, not all people agree that giving hormones to kids, which only provides long-term health issues is a good thing. So inclusivity, means ignoring 95 percent of the population? To make sure 5 percent are able to keep grooming kids, end quote?
Read about some of the stories. I'm still quoting now.
Of the young girls who have had a mastectomy at 13. And are now in their 20s. And have horrible health issues. From the hormones that they've taken. I don't care what an adult does.
But kids should be left alone.
Is that unreasonable?
My favorite comment was this, with JPG 45. Our leadership team has a difficult decision to make.
They answer to something called shareholders.
We're also responsible for thousands of team member jobs. Please, don't attack your leadership or your fellow team members when you don't know their heart.
We are a business, and this is capitalism. Good day now. End quote.
Well, Target needed to send out a company-wide letters addressing the comments before the end of the day. And here's what they said.
Several comments made during the town hall, violated Target's policies. Those incidents are being addressed directly. Target does not tolerate discrimination or hate speech of any kind.
Wait. The ones who just said don't attack the leadership?
That that's hate speech? That wasn't enough for some of the members of the Pride Plus business council.
The idea was floated in their chat. On the day of their town hall.
That they needed more organized response.
That response came about a month later, in the form of a list of demands, sent to target leadership. Which we were also given access. Exclusive access to.
In the memo, they said, they wanted from Target, quote, an acknowledgment of harm. A sincere apology.
And a clear statement of unwavering support for the LGBTQ+ community.
They wrote, we have always regarded Target as an inclusive and progressive company. However, these recent events have called into question, the company's commitment to these values.
They said, the removal of some of the Pride collection was disappointing and distressing. So fort company to atone, they needed Target to acknowledge in writing, the harm done to the LGBTQ+ community, explicitly the trans and nonbinary -- nonbinary members of the community. Forge partnerships with prominent LGBTQ advocacy groups and immediately reinstate the Pride collection in full, which we know didn't happen.
Donate to LGBTQ causes and implement sensitivity training for employees and cease all contributions to politicians and organizations that do not support the LGBTQ community.
This is so crazy. Because here is a company, that supports LGBTQ. Way beyond what other companies do.
And they're not woke enough. Even after all that pressure from within the company. And all the pressure outside the company, from people like Governor Newsom accusing Target CEO of selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists.
We're the extremists. Target still toned down its Pride collection this year, and they did it because of you. This is a testament of what you can do, when we come together, which brings me to the point of this whole story.
What is this story really all about?
Because I'm not showing you all about this stuff?
You know, saying that Target has issues.
We know that already.
It's why you staged a boycott.
What is this story really all about?
Okay. So I wanted to give you this exclusive story today, on Target. Because I want you to see a couple of things here. First of all, we do have the power to make a difference.
We have more power than you think you do.
That's why they need to shut people up, using fear, okay?
The second thing is, is a little bit of hope.
And sadness as well.
Wokeness will always destroy itself.
This is -- it's like the plant in little shop of horror. You give it a little bit of blood, and it will eventually eat you.
And that's what's happening to companies like Target. They created a monster, and they planted it inside their own company. And it's eating them alive.
It's as if all of Target's virtue signaling came to life in the form some of their employees. And now it's the battle to the death. It's the same in higher education. There are those professors who have been teaching revolutionary theories for years. But now have been run out by revolutionaries they created. Same thing in the Democratic Party.
The new generation of progressives is threatening the Democratic establishment, who used to be the radicals, for not being radical enough.
Wokeness always eats its own. And it's because the entire ideology is fueled by deconstruction.
And critical theories that rage against the hierarchy. Or the debate. And do you know whams when you're in a movement for a while?
You, the radical, become the establishment. If you climb your way to the top of the woke ladder, you'll find yourself on the wrong side of the movement. And the new revolutionaries always destroy the old ones. The ending of the story for places like Target and Disney is inevitable.
And I think most of us understand that innately, which is why we watch these stories unfold like it's the end of the Daytona 500. We know someone is going to crash. It's just a matter of time. So what do we do?
Do we sit back, point and laugh?
No. That would be tempting. And fun. A little bit.
But not useful. Because in the short-term.
Whatever crash is coming. Is going to affect all of us.
There are plenty of sane people. Normal people. That work at Target.
Hike the ones that we saw, trying to be reasonable in their community chat.
All of us will be caught in the crossfire of these woke institutions as they implode.
We just need to be ready to fill the vacuum. That it's going to create.
In the long-term, we have to focus on creating an alternative. Business. Movie. Media.
Everything.
That's what we need. Alternatives. Kind, gracious. Decent. Alternatives.
You build it. They destroy. But you build. You restore.
Wokeness is a destructive force.
We just have to hold on to our values. And be ready to rebuild.