Lawmakers sound off on Target woke controversy: 'Obsession with focusing on children'

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Target stock price drops following Pride collection uproar

Fox News’ Nate Foy reports on the Target Pride collection controversy and subsequent bomb threats on ‘Special Report.’

EXCLUSIVE: Republican and Democratic lawmakers sounded off Thursday on Target's woke controversy as the company continues to face backlash for rolling back some of its Pride merchandise last month.

Rural Target stores in South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia were among the locations to move Pride sections in the wake of consumer backlash to try and avoid a "Bud Light situation," a Target insider told Fox News Digital last week. LGBT groups such as the National Black Justice Coalition blasted Target for relocating the merchandise in response to what the company claimed were "threats" as "deeply disappointing."

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, Fla., and Rand Paul, Ky., both sounded off on corporations for targeting children. 

Many Target locations across the country feature massive June Pride month displays on an annual basis. (Brian Flood/Fox News)

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"I think to some extent companies have the freedom to say whatever they want," Rubio told Fox News Digital. "But obviously consumers are going to react. I think in the Target one, which is different from the Bud Light one, the Target one has to do with families that are going into stores and being bombarded, not just with Pride month stuff, but with products specifically designed for children. I think that most Americans would say, look, adults can do whatever they want in the privacy of their own lives at home. But when you take the power of corporations and ram it down people's throats aimed at children, you're going to have a very visceral reaction." 

"I think people draw the line there," he continued. "And so you're having them marketing T-shirts and even bathing suits to encourage and celebrate in children, transgenderism and things of that nature, you're going to get a very strong reaction, especially in parts of the country where people feel very strongly about it. So the most offensive thing to me was Target arguing that they're stepping back from it because of threats to their safety. Consumers are just not shopping there, they're upset about it. You understand why. Again most people don't care what adults want to do, but do not ram it down kids' throats and don't target children." 

Target's new Pride adult one piece swimsuit featuring "tuck-friendly construction" and "extra crotch coverage." (Brian Flood/Fox News)

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Rubio continued, zeroing in on why major companies appear to be "sexualizing children."

"I don't understand this obsession with focusing on children, marketing products to children, entertainment to children, messaging to children. Using schools to target children. I think that's where parents are drawing the line. And by the way, if they were having heterosexual Pride month, where they were advocating sexualizing children from a heterosexual standpoint, I'd be equally offended at that notion. I think kids need to be left alone and allowed to be kids and grow up healthy and determine their own course in life. To use corporate power in marketing to target children, you're going to get a very visceral reaction the way schools have," he said.

"I think corporations should stay out of trying to sexualize our youth with all kinds of bizarre notions," Paul similarly said. "I'm not a big fan of what Target's doing, and you won't see me in Target anytime soon."

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., admitted he didn't know much about the Target controversy, but used it to sound off on the divisiveness in Congress.

"The bottom line is, everything that seems to be done in this country now is politics trying to divide," Manchin told Fox News Digital. "It's not the country that's divided, it's basically the Congress here's divided and making you pick a side — which side are you on? There's only one side. The American side. So if you're going to be on a side, pick the American side." 

Bud Light on sale for $19.99 with a $15 rebate offer at a store in Nashua, New Hampshire, on May 24, 2023. (Alexa Moutevelis/Fox News Digital)

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"I hope other companies are noticing what happens to businesses that don't focus on their products and services and their consumers," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said. "You're not working on the behalf of shareholders when you're pushing different social issues. As a business, concentrate on what your business does. If it's brewing beer and selling beer, concentrate on that." 

"Don't get involved in politics," he continued. "Don't get involved in these social issues. I'm from the private sector. I want businesses to succeed. And the way they succeed is by focusing on their customer service and their products. And that's what they need to do. So hopefully other people learn this lesson. It's pretty amazing it's happened to Bud Light and possibly Target as well."

"I think the lesson here is that all those fine American companies, who have CEOs with brains above a single-celled organism, ought to stay out of politics," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.

Bud Light continues to face calls for boycotts after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and the company has suffered its own steep financial losses. 

In a statement, Target said that "volatile circumstances" led to its decision to remove some of the more controversial products in their stores, but said it remained committed to the LGBTQIA+ community.

"For more than a decade, Target has offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month. Since introducing this year’s collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work. Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year," a Target spokesperson told Fox News Digital.   

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Fox News Digital's Agustin Hays contributed to this report.