‘Patriots! Time to go to buy some cool stuff…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) For conservative do-it-yourselfers who shy away from the long lines at big-box hardware stores, a left-wing boycott of Home Depot may be wonderful news.
So noted Rep. Devin Nunes, D-Calif., after Home Depot‘s 90-year-old co-founder, Bernie Marcus, recently declared his support for President Donald Trump.
That, in turn, triggered some social justice warriors—those who manage to balance their weekday activism with weekend home-improvement projects—to protest the chain.
Patriots! Time to go to buy some cool stuff @HomeDepot https://t.co/WHFtpeumKH
— Devin Nunes (@DevinNunes) July 9, 2019
According to The Atlanta Journal–Constitution, the Florida-based nonagenarian Marcus and his wife, Billi, have given more than $2 billion to philanthropic causes—including the Georgia Aquarium, and efforts supporting stroke victims, autism awareness and military veterans.
The self-made billionaire also has given heavily in the past to Jewish causes, having co-founded The Israel Democracy Institute.
Marcus said his philanthropic giving well eclipsed his political donations and that he planned to bequeath 80 to 90 percent of his wealth to charity causes.
Nonetheless, he was listed as the 20th-ranked on the Center for Responsive Politics’s list of top individual donors for the most recent election cycle, having given $6.5 million to conservative candidates in 2018 and $11.5 million in 2016.
Trump has called him a “friend” and sent a video message for his 90th birthday celebration that said, “You are a special man, a brilliant man … When I want advice I call you and you have plenty of advice…much of it I actually take, Bernie.”
Trump again tweeted his support on Wednesday as the #BoycottHomeDepot hashtag was trending.
A truly great, patriotic & charitable man, Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of Home Depot who, at the age of 90, is coming under attack by the Radical Left Democrats with one of their often used weapons. They don’t want people to shop at those GREAT stores because he contributed….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2019
The AJC profile last week that triggered the boycott—which largely focused on Marcus’s plans to give away much of his wealth—offered a less-flattering assessment of Trump, who, Marcus said, “sucks” at communication.
However, he also praised the president’s strong economic leadership and his firm foreign policy stances with China, Iran and North Korea.
The AJC said Marcus retired as chairman of Home Depot in 2002.
Although the company has struggled financially due to the emergence of online warehouses like Amazon, Marcus said he was not concerned with its ability to adapt and survive.
“Home Depot is doing well because they understand the philosophy of reinventing themselves,” Marcus said.
“At one point, we had real concern that Amazon was going to put everybody out of business,” he added. “I don’t feel that is true today. … They are not going to run away with our business.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos—who has publicly clashed with Trump and owns the left-leaning Washington Post—was listed as 10th on the list of top 2018 donors, having given more than $10 million for the midterm cycle.