Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck makes Harley-Davidson do a U-turn on woke policies

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck announced on X Monday that under threat of boycott and amidst a concerted pressure campaign, the 121-year-old motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has scrapped various leftist initiatives.

"We did it again," wrote Starbuck. "3 for 3. The left fears what I'm doing because it's effective. The attacks will increase with the plan we have but we have a plan and it accounts for the arrows that will be fired at us. We won't slow down for anyone."

Starbuck has now successfully targeted Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson for their race-obsessive policies, embrace of gender ideology, and other alienating leftist commitments, which appear to be at odds with the conservatives among these companies' clientele.

The ideological capture of Wall Street and of beloved American businesses was long in the making; however, by the time many realized what exactly had happened to the system and the brands they grew up with, the time to mount a meaningful defense had passed.

Some conservatives have recently gone on offense, threatening companies' bottom lines, only to discover that this — and perhaps only this — is the means of reconquest.

Having undoubtedly gleaned insights both into corporations' low tolerance for consumer backlash from the Bud Light saga and into the efficacy of an unflinching information assault of the kind waged by Christopher Rufo against universities' DEI czars, Starbuck and others have gone to war with American legacy companies over their wokery.

'When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world.'

Blaze News previously reported that Starbuck and others blasted Tractor Supply, a company established in 1938, for mandating that its employees undergo "LGBTQIA+ training," for funding sex-change mutilations through its health plan, and for sponsoring so-called family-friendly transvestite performances, as well as for other leftist initiatives.

The exposure was evidently too much to handle, as Tractor Supply announced on June 27 that it had taken the "feedback to heart" and would no longer volunteer data to the powerful LGBT activist group that calls itself the Human Rights Campaign; would ditch "DEI roles and retire [its] current DEI goals"; and would jettison its carbon emission goals.

When similarly targeted for liberation, John Deere similarly traded the LGBT colors back for the red, white, and blue, indicating it would "no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events" and would be taking additional steps to shore up customer trust.

Last month, Starbuck launched his latest campaign: a boycott of Harley-Davidson, a once-beloved motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903.

In a series of social media posts and videos, he provided fuel for a Bud Light-style boycott, alleging that the company:

• supports legislation that would enable men to enter "girl's bathrooms, sports and locker-rooms";
• required thousands of employees to undertake training on "how to become LGBTQ+ allies";
• was a founding member of Wisconsin's LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce — a group that opposed a law that would have saved children from sex-change mutilations;
• celebrated two additional "Months of Inclusion" beside so-called Pride Month;
• worked on having "less White suppliers, dealers and employees";
• partnered yearly with "Pride Ride"; and
• partnered with the Human Rights Campaign on non-straight activism, ultimately securing a 90/100 rating on the HRC's CEI index.

'We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks.'

Starbuck also highlighted some statements made and actions taken by the company's German-born CEO, Jochen Zeitz, that might prickle customers, including:

• his boast that his corporate activism had at least one peer calling him the "sustainable Taliban";
• signing of a joint letter to the COP28 presidency demanding an end to fossil fuels;
• criticism of President Donald Trump for leaving the Paris Agreement;
• committal of Harley-Davidson to the UN Global Compact; and
• advocacy for DEI.

"I don't think the values at corporate reflect the values of nearly any Harley Davidson bikers," wrote Starbuck. "Do Harley riders want the money they spend at Harley to be used later by corporate to push an ideology that’s diametrically opposed to their own values?"

Starbuck added, "When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world and we can restore great American companies to a culture of sanity, meritocracy and culture war neutrality OR we can inspire competitors to step up to fight for our business."

Whatever pressure Americans helped apply in concert with the conservative filmmaker appears to have been enough.

At noon on Monday, Harley-Davidson stated on X, "We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community. As a Company, we take this issue very seriously, and it is our responsibility to respond with clarity, action and facts."

Harley-Davidson claimed that pursuant to an internal stakeholder review initiated earlier this year, the company has kicked its supplier diversity spend goals to the curb and does not have hiring quotas. It noted further that its "DEI function" has been dead since April 2024 and the company does "not have a DEI function today."

Harley-Davidson also indicated it will no longer participate in HRC scoring going forward and "will focus exclusively on growing the sport of motorcycling and retaining our loyal riding community."

"Socially motivated content" in training sessions will apparently disappear in the rearview mirror along with the company's race obsession and HRC participation.

"Harley-Davidson corporate can be sad all they want but our movement gets results," said Starbuck.

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