Morning Wire XX
[0] Retail giant Target continues to face boycotts and backlash over the launch of their pride collection for kids.
[1] When you actually get involved in a fight like that, you lose 50 % of your constituency.
[2] How hard has Target's bottom line been hit?
[3] And who's behind the alleged bomb threats?
[4] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howe.
[5] It's Wednesday, May 31st, and this is Morning Wire.
[6] Credit card debt hits an all -time high as Americans' personal sales.
[7] savings collapse.
[8] And it's not luxury goods or vacations that have sparked the explosion in debt.
[9] And a gathering of Wall Street's biggest donors reveals which candidates the elites don't want on the ticket.
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
[12] We have the news you need to know.
[13] Retail giant Target has lost $10 billion in market valuation since facing backlash from consumers over the company's LGBT pride merchandise for children.
[14] Now the company says they are receiving threats of violence for moving some of the pride items.
[15] Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestige Acomo.
[16] So Amanda, first off, how hard has Target been hit by the boycott?
[17] Yeah, you know, pretty hard.
[18] The department store chain went from around $160 a share to $138 a share.
[19] Target shares have slipped for six consecutive sessions.
[20] The last time the retailer took such a huge hit was during the pandemic.
[21] In response to the backlash, Target quickly removed many.
[22] of the items and moved the pride section away from the front of the store where it's typically displayed.
[23] University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers went as far as to describe the boycott campaign as, quote, literally terrorism.
[24] Here's what he told MSNBC.
[25] When Target caves into this, then it says that the moment you threaten the employees of even a very large corporation, you get to control its policies.
[26] This is economic terrorism, literally.
[27] terrorism, creating fear among the workers and forcing the corporations to sell the things you want and not sell the things you don't.
[28] Now, last week we reported on some of the merchandise that sparked that backlash.
[29] Some listeners might remember there was the tuck friendly women's bathing suit, as well as some LGBT items for babies and kids.
[30] But since then, there's been some additional reporting on the marketing strategy behind the scenes.
[31] Tell us a little bit about that?
[32] That's right.
[33] It's sensory surface that Target's VP of brand marketing, Carlos Savedra, is also on the board of an organization called the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, otherwise known as Glysson, where he serves as the treasurer.
[34] Target has been affiliated with Glysson for about a decade now.
[35] The name of the organization is a little misleading because it only mentions gay and lesbian, but the group works specifically to get transgender education materials and lessons into public schools.
[36] The group has a has sent 46 ,000 LGBT -themed books and explicit sexual content to schools across the nation and openly lobbies for school policies to hide students' gender transitions from parents.
[37] Glisten says their work is to provide every student a safe, supportive, and LGBTQ -inclusive K -12th grade education, and most of their work is done under the umbrella of anti -bullying initiatives.
[38] Target Corporation has also given millions of dollars to Glisten over the years and has been partnered with the organization for about a decade.
[39] Now, the company also says that they're receiving threats.
[40] What kind of threats is Target receiving?
[41] Target claims they received bomb threats in three different states recently, Utah, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
[42] The threats were from individuals upset about Target moving its LGBT merchandise to the back of the store.
[43] One emailed threat out of Ohio said, quote, Target is full of cowards who turn their back on the LGBT community and decided to cater to the homophobic right -wing.
[44] redneck bigots.
[45] Well, this has become a real lightning rod in the culture war, and we have a lot of notable people weighing in.
[46] What are people saying?
[47] Well, California Governor Gavin Newsom is one of the most prominent figures on the left.
[48] Newsom said in a tweet last week that Target CEO Brian Cornell is, quote, selling out the LGBTQ plus community to extremists, adding, quote, this doesn't stop here.
[49] You're black, you're Asian, you're Jewish, you're a woman, you're next.
[50] Glad, another LGBT activist group also came out and criticized Target for caving to, quote, fringe activists calling for censorship and demanded corporate leaders stand up for LGBTQ employees and consumers.
[51] But conservatives say they aren't fringe activists, that they represent the majority of people, particularly parents who just want to protect children from sexualized messaging and from companies pushing what they see as a dangerous agenda.
[52] Now, you'd think that other companies might be a little bit hesitant, to put out pride baby items after the target fiasco.
[53] But it sounds like another department store did just that over the weekend.
[54] Yes, Coles dropped a new line of pride merchandise over the weekend, which also included a pride onesie, and they're now facing a boycott as well.
[55] As of now, though, the company is standing by their products.
[56] All right, Amanda, thanks so much for reporting.
[57] Thanks for having me. As lawmakers in Washington borrow more than ever, Americans are dealing with a debt crisis of their own.
[58] as credit card debt this quarter hit a record high.
[59] Here with more on the concerning trend and what's behind this surge in credit card debt is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
[60] All right, Cabot, so credit card debt continues to hit record numbers.
[61] What are we saying here?
[62] Well, as the government goes deeper into debt, so are individual Americans.
[63] According to new data from the first quarter of 2023, Americans have never been more in the red.
[64] That's personal credit card debt hit $986 billion last quarter.
[65] That's according to the Fed, and some estimates actually put the number even higher.
[66] Wallet Hub, for example, says it's actually over $1 .2 trillion.
[67] All told, the average U .S. household now carries around $10 ,000 in credit card debt.
[68] And remember, this comes after a period in which Americans actually made huge progress in paying off their debt.
[69] In 2020, credit card debt fell from around $930 billion to $780 billion as people received stimulus payments and spent less money as the economy shut down.
[70] But since then, things have gotten worse at a record pace, with a quarter trillion dollars in credit card debt being added in the last two years, alone.
[71] And it's worth noting that debt, it's not coming from disposable income on frivolous purchases, but rather on essential goods.
[72] From on that, I talked to Jim Nellis, an economist and supply chain expert.
[73] They're using their credit cards to do things like purchase groceries, purchase gas, to make rent payments.
[74] But then because they don't have the money, they're having to finance those charges at 20 plus percent, because that's where the interest rates on credit cars are right now.
[75] And unfortunately, there's not much optimism that those figures will get better anytime soon.
[76] As just one in three Americans say they pay their credit card balance in full each month.
[77] And when you zoom out, it gets even worse as overall consumer debt hit $17 trillion last quarter, another all -time high.
[78] For context, that is equal to about two -thirds of our entire GDP.
[79] Yeah, really almost impossible to wrap your mind around.
[80] What's behind this explosion in credit card debt?
[81] A big factor here is interest rates.
[82] As the Fed has implemented rate hike after rate hike in their bid to slow down inflation, the cost of borrowing money has skyrocketed.
[83] This time, last year, the average rate on a new credit card was 16%, and now sits at 24%, the highest we've seen in four decades.
[84] For context, if you had $10 ,000 in credit card debt and paid it off at $250 a month, you'd be making payments until the year 2030, and you'd end up paying a total of just over $20 ,000.
[85] So twice what you originally owed.
[86] And according to Nellis, those higher rates are also impacting other sectors as well, including the auto industry.
[87] The number of people, 60 days or more behind on auto launches, increased over.
[88] over 20 % year over year.
[89] Severe delinquencies are at their highest since 2006.
[90] Loan defaults are up 33 % and repossessions are up 11%.
[91] What you're going to start seeing on the credit card debt is more and more people paying at the minimum on their monthly payments or skipping monthly payments and incurring fees to do so.
[92] This becomes a snowball effect and I think what we're gonna start to see are more and more families declaring bankruptcy to get out from underneath this debt.
[93] And all that debt is, also impacting how much Americans are able to save each month.
[94] According to the latest data, the U .S. personal savings rate is down to just 4 .6%.
[95] The average annual rate over the last decade was 8%.
[96] It's leading more Americans to dip into their retirement funds to get by each month.
[97] In 2022, the number of hardship withdrawals from 401ks rose by 24 % year over year, which means more and more Americans can no longer afford to pay their bill.
[98] And what we're seeing them do is take money out of the 401k, which if you fast forward down the road, that's going to create even more problems for these folks as they don't have money than to retire.
[99] So a very concerning trend that is only getting worse as inflation persists, at high rates continue to go higher.
[100] Yeah, that savings rates being cut in half is troubling.
[101] Kevin, thanks for reporting.
[102] Any time.
[103] A gathering of wealthy Wall Street executives took place in upstate New York recently, and it shed some light on the presidential preferences of the donor class.
[104] According to the Wall Street Journal, the event boasted some of the country's most important bankers and financiers fedded at the home of Honeywell Chief Executive David Cote, and the subject of the 2024 was apparently on a lot of lips.
[105] Here to discuss this Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
[106] Hey, Dave, what is this event and what did we learn about the presidential race and the two candidates they don't want to see?
[107] It's an event called the Carnivores Ball, apparently dedicated to expensive meat and being insanely wealthy.
[108] I was not invited.
[109] This is where some of the top bankers and executives on Wall Street back channel on a host of issues.
[110] And like everywhere else, a big issue is the presidential race.
[111] And yeah, the main takeaway from the journals reporting is that most of these top men do not want to see Joe Biden versus Donald Trump in 2024, which, though they are elite, really does track with broader polls of the American people.
[112] Yeah.
[113] So before we get into what alternatives these folks may prefer, why not Biden or Trump?
[114] What is it about each of them that's turning off the Wall Street set?
[115] It's different in each case.
[116] Biden is a stable hand on the wheel with normal appointments to positions that these people care about.
[117] But he's also a Democrat and turned out to be a pretty far left one.
[118] So on issues like antitrust or energy production, they have worries.
[119] With Trump, they tended to like what Trump did economically as president.
[120] But they've expressed.
[121] fear that he could just do something out of right field to disrupt global markets.
[122] A lot of GOP voters love Trump as a disruptor, but for Wall Street, disruption means risk.
[123] Right.
[124] So if they don't want Biden or Trump, who are they hoping climbs into one of their places?
[125] One attendee was quoted as saying something interesting, that nobody wants Biden or Trump, so they are, quote, hoping for a miracle.
[126] But having said that, of course there's interest in Ron DeSantis, who's perceived as the clear challenger today.
[127] Trump.
[128] Vibh Ramoswamy is someone who has relationships with a lot of these characters, so he might be appealing.
[129] On the Democrat side, you know, there isn't a sense that there's one solid alternative who people are getting behind.
[130] The person who would like to be that one solid alternative and who polling gives the best chances to is Ron DeSantis.
[131] How important is the donor class to his campaign?
[132] Look, it always matters.
[133] You can't run without money, but DeSantis's camp really went into a victory lap after raising $8 million in the 24 hours.
[134] after his bumpy campaign announcement, they've been clear that Iowa is vital to them, and they have promised to put out such a huge ground game that if somebody knocks on an Iowans' door, they just assume it's a DeSantis canvasser.
[135] That costs a lot of what's called street money, and Wall Street has a lot of it.
[136] One thing that has some Wall Street donors nervous is the Florida governor's combative approach to Disney, so he may have to calm some fears about how much he wants the state reaching into the policies of private companies.
[137] For Democrats, do you think this lack of strong support from wealthy donors for Biden mirrors broader fears that he just isn't up for the fight this time?
[138] Maybe.
[139] I think that's certainly true for Democrats writ large and explains why Robert Kennedy Jr. has a whopping 20 % in this race.
[140] But for top Wall Street types, it's likely much more about policy than personality.
[141] I think it's less electability and a lot more about a generally sluggish economic environment that Biden has presided over.
[142] those are concerns Biden is absolutely going to have to address.
[143] Indeed.
[144] Dave, thanks for joining us.
[145] Thanks for having me. Before we go, we have a big announcement.
[146] Like the rest of the Daily Wire podcast, Morning Wire is now officially on Twitter.
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