In the wake of President Donald Trump's election, corporate juggernauts such as Target, McDonald's, Meta, and Amazon have all begun to backtrack on the type of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that have proven so controversial in recent years.

Even so, warehouse shopping giant Costco is bucking the trend and keeping its DEI philosophy in place, and though that decision has drawn support from none other than left-wing activist Al Sharpton, customers in growing numbers are making their disapproval known, as the Daily Mail reports.

Costco holds firm

As the Associated Press notes, Costco's stance on DEI recently came to the forefront after company shareholders said no to a proposal suggesting that its executives begin to examine the potential “litigation, reputational, and financial” risks of maintaining such practices in the face of an increasingly hostile legal and regulatory environment for race and gender-based programming.

Costco executives reported at the company's annual meeting that over 98% of shareholders who cast votes on the proposal stood in opposition to it, doing so after the board of directors unanimously requested that the measure be rejected.

Corporate directors at Costco declared that their “commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary.”

Executives further stated that engaging with diverse staffers and suppliers results in “creativity and innovation in the merchandise and services that we offer.”

Retail industry consultant Neil Saunders attributed the shareholders' unwillingness to reverse course to a general sense of satisfaction with the company's overall trajectory, saying, “I think people generally have confidence in Costco's management, and there's an attitude of 'Why rock the boat? It's sailing very nicely.”

Sharpton leads “buy in”

Though his perspective may be borne out of different priorities than those of the aforementioned shareholders, Sharpton, known for organizing corporate boycotts and other direct action campaigns, praised Costco's retention of DEI practices by leading a “buy in” on Sunday at the company's Harlem location, as Fox News explained.

According to Sharpton, he was joined in the endeavor by roughly 100 members of his National Action Network.

In a social media post containing video of the event, Sharpton wrote, “As DEI policies face attacks from Donald Trump and others, Costco has stood firm, proving they value justice and inclusion.

To bolster the impact of the gesture, Sharpton said he purchased $25 gift certificates for those participating in the event, declaring, “We're going shopping at Costco because they've stood with us. People that stand with us, we will stand with them.”

In the wake of executive orders from Trump designed to eliminate DEI from the federal government and a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing race-based college admissions, Sharpton has urged Americans to boycott all companies who have or are in the process of reversing course when it comes to diversity and inclusion programming.

Backlash ensues

Unfortunately for Sharpton -- and potentially for Costco executives as well -- backlash over the “buy in” event did not take long to emerge, with one online commentator telling company executives, “As a life long customer when Rev. Al Sharpton is using you as a Liberal Party tool I am done with you. Sharpton is the kiss of death.”

Another opined that Costco would face a similar fate as Bud Light in the wake of its partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, musing, “I wonder how much they love Al Sharpton now that they're getting bud lighted. I'm cancelling my memberships auto renewal this week and won't be shopping there again,” suggesting that the negative fallout for the warehouse giant may have just begun.