Target CEO Brian Cornell recently gave CNBC a wide-ranging interview about the state of the company, specifically its declining stock.
When the controversy about the retailer selling transgender-friendly children's clothing and merchandise during "Pride Month" came up, Will Hild, executive director of Consumers' Research, says Cornell made a number of "factually inaccurate" comments.
"During this interview, CEO Cornell blamed the very customers who are upset about their targeting of children with LGBTQ propaganda," Hild relays. "He said it was the first time in his entire tenure as CEO that he was worried about the safety of his staff."
Hild calls that "absurd" and "a 180 from the actual truth."
"A number of bomb threats were called in during this controversy, but they weren't coming from upset parents whose kids have been targeted with this nonsense," Hild recalls. "They were coming from members of the LGBTQ community. These were people on the other side, mad that Target had made any changes at their own customers' request, and they were calling in bomb threats."
"The only threats to safety were coming from the other side of this controversy," Hild reiterates.
Another "misstatement" from Cornell involves Target having to close stores because of criminal activity and massive rises in crime.
"So, here is a guy whose company is crumbling because of out-of-control crime in our urban centers, and instead of dealing with that issue that's actually hurting his bottom line, according to his own financial disclosures, he's blaming his customers for having values that don't line up with whatever he's trying to push," the researcher summarizes.
Hild told Fox News that Cornell is trying to distract from the fact that his own mistakes have made his stores unsafe places for shoppers and their young children.
