After facing weeks of MAGA anti-woke backlash against Harley-Davidson for its DEI initiatives aimed at promoting fairness and equity, the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker announced on Monday it is hitting the brakes on their DEI program.
“We see it as every leader’s role to ensure we have an employee base that reflects our customers and the geographies in which we operate,” the company said in a statement.
“It is critical to our business that we hire and retain the best talent and that all employees feel welcome,” the statement continued. “That said, we have not operated a DEI function since April 2024, and we do not have a DEI function today. We do not have hiring quotas and we no longer have supplier diversity spend goals.”
Additionally, the company announced it would no longer participate in Human Rights Campaign (HRC) scoring, an element of LGBTQ+ corporate advocacy.
The corporate culture war against Harley-Davidson began in late July when Robby Starbuck, a Nashville-based former music video director and one-time Republican congressional candidate, “exposed” the company. Starbuck took to social media to claim that Harley-Davidson supported various progressive policies and had implemented “totally woke” employee training.
MAGAs, led by Fox News, salivated at the opportunity to go after the CEO of the company.
Of course the ultimate backlash was cheered as one customer destroyed his machine without the help of Ted Nugent or Kid Rock.
“Woke-ass Harley, say hello to my little friends,” he said.
