Tractor Supply decides to quickly end DEI amid criticism, WSJ reports

The beginning of the end of Tractor Supply’s diversity efforts started on June 6, when Robby Starbuck, a former Hollywood director tuner conservative activist, posted a message on X saying, “It’s time to expose Tractor Supply,” The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah Nassauer reports. He laid out a string of complaints about stances taken by the company and its leaders, from a warehouse displaying pride flags to the CEO promoting the COVID-19 vaccine. The company has conservative shoppers who don’t agree, he said. The post spread quickly, and within hours executives at the Tennessee retailer began discussing how to quash criticism before the controversy was seized on by conservative media, the author notes. Three weeks later, Tractor Supply said Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI, policies were over. The company was so concerned, its leaders decided a partial rollback wouldn’t be enough, said people familiar with the decision.