Florida Democrats slammed Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody and what they called a “sham” DEI investigation of Starbucks.
Democrats reacted strongly when the Florida Attorney General joined Governor Ron DeSantis on his takeover of Sean Hannity’s radio show to announce an investigation into Starbucks for their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
“The Republican Party’s obsession with DEI is a sham, and so is Ashley’s investigation into Starbucks,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. “The vast majority of business leaders — including 95% of conservative business leaders — know that diversity initiatives are strategically important for the economic health of their company. The fact that Republicans continue to attack businesses for making their own choices proves that the era of ‘free market Republicans’ is dead and gone.”
Republican Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is calling for an investigation of Starbucks Coffee Company for race-based quota hiring practices that appear to discriminate. The Florida AG filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations to investigate the company. She said, at a minimum, Starbucks’s publicly available policies raise sufficient concerns that merit the FCHR investigate to ensure Florida law is being followed.
Democrats pushed back on that, calling it a “dangerous and unconstitutional game.” They also brought the whole issue back to former President Donald Trump, of course.
“Florida Republicans are playing a dangerous and unconstitutional game in an effort to impress Donald Trump and stir up their base,” FDP Chair Nikki Fried added. “Florida Democrats believe that the government has no business interfering with the practices of private corporations, and we plan to fight back against this extreme Republican overreach at the ballot box this November.”