This June, as rainbow flags flutter and parades march on, a noticeable shift has occurred — corporate America is stepping back from its once-vocal support of Pride Month. That retreat offers conservatives not just a moment to observe but a moment to reflect: What are the values we ought to be truly proud of? What are we, as a nation, actually celebrating?

This year, according to Gravity Research, nearly 4 in 10 companies are scaling back Pride-related activities — a major jump from just 9% last year. Major sponsors like Google, Home Depot, Mastercard, and Citi have withdrawn support from some of the largest Pride events in North America. Even entertainment giants like Netflix and Disney have noticeably toned down their rainbow-wrapped algorithms.

If this trend is truly reversing, what should we celebrate instead?

These aren’t isolated incidents. They are part of a growing corporate recalibration — one triggered by consumer backlash. The Bud Light and Target controversies of recent years proved that when brands pander to divisive ideologies, everyday Americans take notice — and they push back. The market has spoken, and many companies are now listening. I’ll crack a Coors Light to that.

None of this is to dismiss the real people behind Pride Month — Americans who genuinely desire dignity, respect, and the freedom to live without fear or hostility. Every person is made in the image of God and deserves to be treated with decency. But that’s precisely why the corporate exploitation of these communities is so hollow. When support is only loud during ad campaigns and silent when there’s pushback, it reveals that the motive was never about justice — it was about profit. Those who truly care about human dignity should be just as offended by this performative marketing as anyone else.

If companies are now walking away from Pride because it’s no longer profitable, we should ask a deeper question: Were they ever really “with” the LGBT community in the first place — or were they simply exploiting a cause to sell products?

The answer is obvious.

It wasn’t support — it was a sales strategy. Betrayal dressed in bright colors. You can’t sell “authenticity,” and these brands proved it.

What we’ve witnessed over the past decade is the rise — and now the reckoning — of performative activism. Rainbow logos in June. BLM hashtags in July. DEI statements in quarterly reports. All too often, these campaigns have felt more like virtue-signaling PR stunts than sincere commitments. It’s what critics have dubbed “rainbow capitalism”: when a company paints itself in the colors of a movement, not to live its values but to boost its bottom line.

One organization that has been instrumental in exposing this performative activism is Consumers’ Research. As a conservative watchdog group, it has launched campaigns targeting companies it perceives as prioritizing progressive agendas over their customers. For instance, in response to Bud Light’s partnership with a transgender influencer, Consumers’ Research initiated a “Woke Alerts” campaign to inform consumers about companies’ political stances. The organization’s efforts have played a significant role in holding corporations accountable and encouraging a return to customer-focused values.

So, if this trend is truly reversing, what should we celebrate instead?

Rather than centering our national pride around identity groups or political campaigns, we should be celebrating the things that actually hold America together — faith, family, freedom, and community.

Faith, not in the empty slogans of corporate human resources departments, but in a higher purpose. Faith that grounds our moral order and has shaped the conscience of our country from the beginning. One can’t help but think of Matthew 15:8: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

RELATED: Rainbow rebellion: How Christians can take back what Pride Month stole

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Family, the foundational institution that no government program can replace. It’s within the home that virtue is taught, character is formed, and citizens are raised.

Freedom, especially the freedom to speak the truth — even when it’s unpopular — and to live according to conscience without fear of cancellation or coercion. The most inclusive flag in the land is Old Glory.

And community — real, local, lived-in community — where Americans help each other not because of corporate campaigns, but because it’s the right thing to do.

We know better. These are the values that deserve celebration. These are the virtues that built this country. And if corporate America is finally pulling back from the cultural fray, maybe it’s time for all of us to recommit — not to branding campaigns, but to the timeless truths that made America strong in the first place.

Pride Month 2025 isn’t just about what’s changing on Madison Avenue. It’s about what’s possible on Main Street. Let’s use this moment not to divide but to unify — by celebrating what we’ve always had reason to be proud of.

​Opinion & analysis, Woke capital, Pride month, Target, Bud light, Boycott, June, Corporate profits, Sales, Gay pride, Transgender agenda, Faith, Family, Community, Pride 

For years, conservatives have pointed out that Joe Biden, with his health in clear decline, could not have been in control of the presidency. And after a Project Veritas exposé that revealed the truth about Biden’s presidency, they’ve been vindicated.

“The actual shadow president of the United States — the man controlling Joe Biden — was Anthony Bernal,” BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler says on “The Liz Wheeler Show.”

Garrett Ziegler, founder of the opposition research nonprofit Marco Polo, has done his research on the mysterious Bernal and likens him to chambermaids of the past.

“In the days of the absolute monarchs of Europe, they had what was called a chambermaid, and essentially this was a male who had been castrated — he was basically a eunuch — and his job was to guard the queen,” Ziegler explains.

“They castrated him because that would take away any ability for him to pose a threat to the king, and I know this is a somewhat unique analogy, but that’s essentially what Bernal was,” he continues.

“Five foot four, diminutive, quiet, homosexual man who was with Jill Biden every hour of the day,” he adds. “This is a guy who goes dress shopping with the First Lady. This is very, very atypical in American history.”

And reporter Steven Nelson uncovered even more disturbing dirt on Bernal.

“Steven Nelson had there on record quotes from current staffers under Anthony Bernal, saying he’s screaming at them during the day, making weird sexual comments to men in the office. This is not my reporting — this is Steven Nelson’s, and it’s been published in the New York Post,” Ziegler explains.

“I mean, all of this is fascinating, especially because we have, up until now, zero idea that this person kind of even exists, let alone the amount of power that he has,” Wheeler chimes in. “He’s been described as an enforcer, as a fixer, as a gatekeeper. As you mentioned, he’s openly gay. Politico once described him as the Meryl Streep of the Biden family.”

“He allegedly asked members of the Biden staff — male members — or described, questioned, speculated about the size of their genitalia,” she continues.

“This guy is totally out of control,” Ziegler says, adding, “And you know, he’s still being paid by the taxpayer. I confirmed this.”

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After years of criticism from the right about unfair “de-banking” practices, a major U.S. bank announced the end of the policy as it relates to political affiliation and gun sales.

Citigroup announced that they changed their firearms policies, which had been instituted after the heinous 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

‘The American people are sick and tired of woke corporations discriminating against conservatives and gun owners!’

“We appreciate the concerns that are being raised regarding ‘fair access’ to banking services, and we are following regulatory developments, recent executive orders and federal legislation that impact this area,” the bank said in a statement.

The statement said Citigroup had updated its employee code of conduct to ensure that no one was discriminated against on the basis of their political affiliation.

Among those who claimed they were the targets of political de-banking were first lady Melania Trump and Eric Trump, who said the Trump Organization had been negatively affected.

In October, the first lady recalled in an interview the shock she felt on finding out a bank had “suddenly informed me they will not be able to do business with me anymore.”

She also said that a university returned her money when she tried to contribute to a philanthropic effort to fund scholarships for foster kids.

“They didn’t want to do business with me because of political affiliation, my political beliefs,” she added.

RELATED: Trump confronts Bank of America CEO at World Economic Forum: ‘What you’re doing is wrong’

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The president’s son commented on de-banking in March.

“The decision by Capital One to ‘debank’ our company, after well over a decade, was a clear attack on free speech and free enterprise that flies in the face of the bedrock principles and freedoms that define our country,” Eric Trump wrote. “Moreover, the arbitrary closure of these accounts, without justifiable cause, reflects a broader effort to silence and undermine the success of the Trump Organization and those who dare to express their political views.”

Donald Trump Jr. praised the development from Citi on social media.

“WINNING: After years of doing the bidding of the woke left & targeting our 2nd Amendment rights, Citi Bank has finally folded,” he wrote. “The American people are sick and tired of woke corporations discriminating against conservatives and gun owners!”

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​Political debanking, Debanking, Citigroup ends debanking, Firearms debanking, Politics 

The Department of Education on Wednesday delivered a long-overdue strike against the activist university system. While headlines focused on Columbia University, the message was broader: Every institution living off federal student loan money now faces pressure from two sides — financial scrutiny and accreditation reform.

As a professor inside the academic machine, I can say this is exactly the disruption higher education needs. If we want universities to educate rather than indoctrinate, this is the pressure point to hit.

The executive order doesn’t just challenge accreditation. It exposes the hypocrisy at the core of modern academia.

One of Donald Trump’s core campaign promises was to overhaul how universities receive accreditation. Most Americans don’t realize it, but accreditation is the golden ticket. Without it, colleges can’t rake in billions from student loans and federal grants. And yet, the organizations in charge of accreditation have turned a blind eye to blatant, systemic discrimination.

They’ve allowed public violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act — discrimination under the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Conservative faculty are nearly extinct. In DEI-infused hiring committees, ideology has replaced merit. If the roles were reversed, the left would call this what it is: systemic discrimination.

On April 23, Trump signed an executive order titled “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education.” Its aim is simple: to upend the broken accreditation process and hold universities accountable for civil rights violations.

Here’s the language that has the ivory tower in a panic:

The Attorney General and the Secretary of Education shall … investigate and take appropriate action to terminate unlawful discrimination by American law schools that is advanced by the Council, including unlawful “diversity, equity, and inclusion” requirements under the guise of accreditation standards.

Translation: Universities are finally being forced to follow the anti-discrimination laws they pretend to champion.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon followed up by naming Columbia University, noting that the school “looked the other way as Jewish students faced harassment.” That broke Title VI protections. No revocation yet — but the accreditor has been notified. Unless Columbia takes corrective action, its funding could be in jeopardy.

This isn’t just about Columbia. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Harvard unlawfully discriminated with its admissions practices. Elite schools have behaved as if laws don’t apply to them. Now, they’re finding out otherwise.

The rot runs deeper. Across the country, universities have quietly purged conservatives, Christians, and dissenters in favor of radicals, atheists, and left-wing ideologues. Hiring committees dismiss this as “meritocracy” while ensuring no one to the right of Bernie Sanders gets tenure.

RELATED: Kristi Noem’s bombshell letter hits Harvard where it hurts

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At Arizona State University, where I teach, we boast a student body that is 70% female — while faculty can’t even define “woman.” That imbalance raises serious questions. Are men now a legally protected group under Title VI? They should be. Universities that brand masculinity as “toxic” while ignoring misandry are engaged in discrimination, plain and simple.

This moment marks a shift. For decades, the university system cloaked itself in moral superiority while wielding tax dollars like a cudgel. But now, the empire is wobbling. Institutions that once policed speech and purity tests may finally have to explain themselves.

The executive order doesn’t just challenge accreditation. It exposes the hypocrisy at the core of modern academia. Universities broke the law. Now they’re being forced to live under it.

And maybe — just maybe — future professors won’t need to hide their beliefs to keep their jobs. That’s the kind of education reform America deserves.

​Opinion & analysis, Higher education, Donald trump executive order, Department of education, Linda mcmahon, Columbia university, Harvard, Supreme court, Civil rights, Title vi, Justice department, Arizona state university, Discrimination 

The left’s latest lie is among their worst — that is, that violent, hateful mobs are simply “pro-Palestinian protesters.”

“It’s not a pro-Palestinian movement. It’s a pro-terrorism movement. Whether they call themselves Palestinians or Hamas or Islamic Jihad or the Muslim Brotherhood or Qatar or whatever they call themselves,” BlazeTV host Mark Levin says on “LevinTV,” “it is a mission.”

And while there are leftists claiming that the right is attempting to stop pro-Palestinian protesters from exercising their right to free speech, Levin says that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“Nobody is stopping pro-Palestinian protesters from protesting. What people are objecting to is the bullhorns, the spitting, the physical violence preventing other people from speaking, preventing students from going to class, preventing certain faculty from teaching their class, intimidation, threats, and violence,” Levin explains.

“If you want to go on the corner and scream at the top of your lungs that you love Palestine and the Palestinians,” he continues, “you’re free to do it, and nobody’s going to stop you. They’ll look at you stupid because you are stupid. But you’re free to be stupid.”

The left has also claimed that you’re not allowed to criticize Israel in America, which is, of course, not true.

“Yeah, there’s no criticizing Israel in this country,” Levin mocks. “No, no, never happens. There’s no criticizing America in this country. No, no, it never happens.”

Levin notes that these detractors intentionally blur the lines between “peaceful speech” and “intimidation; violence; not protests, riotous protests; the destruction of private property; the prevention of students from going to class, some of them running for their lives.”

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