CNN Blames DEI Rollback—Not Inflation—For Target’s Stock Drop
“Abandon woke, go broke?" CNN asked.
Shares of Target Co. fell more than 6 percent on Thursday after CEO Brian Cornell announced he would step down in February. The decline brings the retailer’s total losses for the year to roughly 27 percent.
We’ll break down the real reasons for Target’s slumping sales below—but first, here’s CNN’s explanation. On Wednesday, the cable news network aired a feature declaring that Target is "suffering the consequences of rolling back DEI."
After the segment, several CNN hosts—including Jake Tapper, Erin Burnett, and Abby Phillip—echoed that framing.
Take a look:
"Abandon woke, go broke?" Phillip asked.
Not exactly.
CNN Links Target’s Struggles to DEI Rollback
While some protesters have demonstrated outside Target stores since the company scaled back its DEI commitments in January, there’s no evidence these gatherings have meaningfully hurt sales. In fact, polling consistently shows that the number of Americans who actively protest for DEI—or boycott over something like a Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad—is incredibly small. This group is loud, but it has little influence in the marketplace, let alone at the ballot box.
By contrast, a much larger boycott happened in 2023, when Target rolled out its creepy "tuck-friendly" swimwear marketed toward trans children. The backlash was so fierce that shareholders sued Target, accusing the company of prioritizing Pride Month over consumer concerns.
That controversy dropped Target’s market cap by $14 billion that month. Much like Bud Light, the brand has never fully recovered. Put simply, celebrating Dylan Mulvaney’s "365 Days of Girlhood" and promoting trans-themed children’s products is where many American consumers drew the line.
TARGET STORES
(Getty Images)
Even so, Target’s recent struggles are more economic than cultural. CBS News recently reported that inflation and rising prices have pushed many shoppers away from Target and toward lower-cost retailers such as Walmart and T.J. Maxx.
The COVID-19 pandemic also dramatically accelerated the shift to online shopping. While retailers like Target offer shipping, they struggle to match Amazon's pricing and famous two-day delivery program.
Of course, none of this actually matters to CNN. The network understands the political gain of convincing viewers that rolling back DEI is harmful.
And the truth is, most CNN anchors would never be caught shopping at Target alongside us ordinary Americans. No wonder they fail to understand how inflation is really hurting the retailer.