Target’s failed attempt at left-wing corporate censorship
Max Mallhi
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Mark Levin, conservative radio personality and host of Fox News’s ,Life, Liberty & Levin, just announced the launch of his new book, called The Democrat Party Hates America. Target initially announced that they would not be selling his book in their stores, citing concerns that it may “offend” customers. This is a baseless argument given its contradictory nature to the company’s normal practices.
Target was recently under fire by those all around the country who were boycotting the brand for selling LGBT-themed merchandise in the children’s and toddlers’ clothing sections. This was a part of their larger efforts to participate in rainbow capitalism during Pride Month. But Target remained committed to continuing these inappropriate sales, ignoring the widespread message that regular customers were not happy with the gross mistake they were making.
A VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH IN A LOUISIANA COURTROOM
The Democratic Party widely runs on the promise to advocate “regular” middle- and working-class people. Yet the party is filled with political elites who love big corporations. While they run on a message against big business enterprises during campaigns, we have seen time and again how the Democratic Party is an ally of big corporations. The Twitter Files scandal was one such example, but the fact that we have so many corporations subscribing to the Left’s ideological principles is astonishing. The double standards Target is showcasing through Levin’s example are unfair to him, its customers, and millions of people.
It’s almost as if corporations and the Democratic Party have an alliance-like transactional relationship. Assuming the most plausible scenario of rent seeking, some members of the party control the ideological narrative of these companies while they pay politicians large sums in donations to stay on their good side, potentially to seek political favors.
This exposes the fact that the Democratic Party does not actually believe in what it claims to stand for during campaigns. The Left has created a mockery out of its “ideological principles” and fooled voters for a long time. But to outright discriminate against conservative voices is a new low for these left-wing-backed corporations. As Levin terms it, this represents “corporatist leftwing censorship.”
According to data published by TargetCitizens PAC 2022, the committee dedicated an equal amount of corporate political contributions to both Democratic and Republican groups. But if these companies think they can fool conservatives by strategically planned and calculated donations to look non-partisan on the surface, they are wrong. When it comes to ideological battles, they are quite clear and vocal about their preferred choice.
In a last-minute switch to save face, Target announced it agreed to sell Levin’s book. This is proof that conservative boycotts are effective, as also seen with Bud Light earlier. This is proof that people are not willing to stay silent and that woke culture will not be pushed on regular people.
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Max Mallhi is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.