Tennessee political commentator and documentary filmmaker Robby Starbuck shared an update into his work exposing John Deere, the American manufacturing company of agricultural machinery and other heavy equipment, for its woke policies, saying how “hundreds” of upset employees have come forward about the drastic changes under the company’s new leadership.
Starbuck said John Deere essentially turned into a “trojan horse for leftism” once its CEO, John May, was named head of the company in 2019 and implemented “drastic” changes to the company’s policies.
“I never thought I would see great American companies like this turn toward what is essentially a trojan horse for leftism and all the work policies to go along with it. But that’s exactly what they’ve done,” Starbuck said on Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Starbuck, who recently exposed Tractor Supply Company for its woke policies that forced that company to reverse course amid backlash from consumers, said he’s had corporate sources at John Deere tell him that the company allows transgender individuals to use opposite sex bathrooms.
“I’ve had multiple sources, employees at corporate, come to me and say that they’re allowing men to use the same bathroom as women, as long as they say they’re trans, and essentially, if you have any problem with it as a woman at work, it’s framed as discrimination to have an issue with it. This type of thinking permeates so much further than the bathrooms, too,” Starbuck said.
In addition, Starbuck said John Deere has also brought in Nikole Hannah-Jones from the 1619 Project to speak to corporate employees as part of its DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiative.
“We just got confirmation last night, this actually isn’t out there, this is the first time I’m saying it, that they brought in Nicole Hannah Jones from the 1619 Project, which is an explicitly racist and far left propaganda piece, to employees. So this is the type of stuff they could expect there,” Starbuck said.
Starbuck noted that the woke changes to the company began under May’s leadership.
“Right after they brought in John May as CEO, there was a massive shake up at the top and that’s when all this stuff came in. They hired a Chief People Officer, which it sounds like a made up term. If we’re all being honest, all of these DEI terms are totally made up. A Chief People Officer – I don’t know exactly what that person does except for inject wokeness into the workplace and create division,” Starbuck said.
On top of the controversial changes at John Deere, Starbuck also pointed out how the company – once an American icon – is moving a large portion of its production jobs to Mexico.
“John Deere is getting rid of a bunch of American jobs right now. We’re talking well over a thousand jobs that they’re planning to get rid of in production and they’re shifting production to Mexico,” Starbuck said.
“A once great American company is going to be ‘Juan Deere’ in a minute because they’re moving this production to Mexico,” Starbuck added.
Noting how Tractor Supply was compelled to change course on its DEI policies amid consumer backlash, Starbuck said John Deere’s customers will begin to look for alternative companies that reflect their values.
“The consumer is totally against this. This has turned into a fight of waking up corporate America to the fact that your customers are the people who walk through the doors, not BlackRock, not Vanguard or, in John Deere’s case, their number one shareholder, Bill Gates. Those people are not walking through the door. Your average farmer is, and you’ve got to understand that if you fall out of alignment with their values, they’re going to look for alternatives,” Starbuck said.
In order to appeal back to its consumer base, Starbuck said there must be a “massive overhaul” at John Deere.
“You need a massive overhaul there. I think that anything less is going to be unacceptable to customers. So the board has a lot of decisions to make, and there are a couple of conservatives on the board,so I do think that maybe we will see a push for some pretty drastic changes,” Starbuck said.
“We’ve got our eyes on these companies and we’re going to keep exposing what they’re really doing at their corporate offices,” Starbuck added. “There’s a public interest here and we need to tell people what’s going on so they understand where they’re giving their money because at the end of the day, if you’re giving your money to these companies and they’re turning around and supporting far left politicians or far left activist organizations, you deserve to know.”
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
