INDIANAPOLIS — Tractor Supply has had its diversity, equity, and inclusion and environmental, social and governance programs for a number of years — but now, the company's initiatives are changing after receiving backlash online.
In a June 5 interview with the Associated Press, Tractor Supply President and CEO Hal Lawton maintained that the company remained “very consistent” in how it approaches these programs and pointed to web pages about the efforts.
In a June 6 post on social media platform X, conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck told his followers to “start buying what you can from other places until Tractor Supply makes REAL changes and shows that they respect the majority of their customers enough to not spend the money we give them on causes we’re deeply opposed to.”
Starbuck and other conservative social media users continued to criticize Tractor Supply in the following weeks — and celebrated Thursday’s news from the company announcing the shift.
In contrast, others have expressed disappointment with Tractor Supply’s announcement — with some arguing that the company is giving in to hate and harming its customers by abandoning crucial principles. Many users on social media are also vowing to now shop elsewhere.
Tractor Supply's move Thursday arrives amid a wider backdrop of conservative backlash and litigation that has targeted companies across industries, as well as a wide array of diversity initiatives, including fellowships, hiring goals, anti-bias training and contract programs for minority or women-owned businesses.
Legal attacks against companies’ diversity and inclusion efforts have particularly been on the rise since June of last year, when the Supreme Court ruled to end affirmative action in college admissions. Many conservative and anti-DEI activists have been seeking to set a similar precedent in the working world.
Beyond the courtroom, some companies and brands — from Bud Light to Target — have been hit with online campaigns calling for boycotts.
Meanwhile, some other corporations and law firms have quietly altered their diversity programs, a stark contrast to the very public announcement on Thursday by Tractor Supply. In its statement, the company said it “heard from customers that we have disappointed them” and “taken this feedback to heart.”