‘Kiss of Death’: Al Sharpton Hosts ‘Buy-In’ Thanking Costco for Sticking with DEI Policies

Al Sharpton waits for Vice President Kamala Harris to speak before walking across the Edmu
AP Photo/Mike Stewart

Leftist activist Al Sharpton hosted a “buy-in” at a Costco in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, as a show of support for the company sticking to its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, although many are describing his mass show of support as a “kiss of death,” given his divisive and controversial reputation.

Sharpton shared a video walking through the Costco on Saturday with the caption, “Leading a buy-in with 100+ @NationalAction members at the @Costco location in Harlem, NYC to show support for the company’s strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).”

“This comes as DEI policies face growing attacks from both President Trump and the private sector,” he added, purchasing 100 $25 gift vouchers for those participating in his “buy-in.”

However, his action did not generate positive results across the board.

“Sharpton’s out here pushing DEI like it’s a good thing. Newsflash: Costco doesn’t need your ‘support’, they need to focus on serving customers, not pushing a woke agenda,” one social media user said. “We’ll keep shopping with businesses that actually care about quality, not politics.”

“Al Sharpton is a race hustler. He doesn’t care as long as his paychecks keep coming,” another said.

Others described Sharpton’s involvement as the “kiss of death” for Costco.

“As a life long customer when Rev Al Sharpton is using you as Liberal Party tool I am done with you. Sharpton is the kiss of death,” the social media user remarked.

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“Thank you for letting me know that I will never spend money in a Costco again until they remove DEI,” another remarked as others declared that they were canceling their Costco memberships.

The move follows the Trump administration creating a culture of weeding out woke hiring practices, but Costco is refusing to go in that direction, sticking to its DEI guns. Costco shareholders shot down a proposal to evaluate their DEI practices at the request of the company’s board of directors. According to the Associated Press, the board of directors stated in part that “our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary.”

“The report requested by this proposal would not provide meaningful additional information,” the board of directors added.

President Donald Trump made clear throughout his campaign that he would end former President Joe Biden’s DEI mandates, favoring a merit-based system instead. He took executive action on this on his first week in office with an executive action titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity.”

“Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system,” the executive action reads in part, making it clear that Americans who work hard should not be “stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.”

“The Federal Government is charged with enforcing our civil-rights laws,” it continues. “The purpose of this order is to ensure that it does so by ending illegal preferences and discrimination.”

Authored by Hannah Knudsen via Breitbart January 27th 2025