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‘We Put A Price On Woke Capital’: Christopher Rufo Explains Game Plan For Fighting Radical Corporations

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo laid out his game plan for defeating woke corporations like Disney through investigative reporting and politics in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The fight between Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney has created a model for conservatives to fight corporations pushing radical ideologies, Rufo, an advocate against Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other forms of left-wing education, told the DCNF. His strategy is to expose what corporations are doing, get people to care and make a legislative push for meaningful political changes.

“What I try to do is take my investigative reporting and connect it with political power,” Rufo told the DCNF. “You have to first generate stories and media and narrative to explain to people exactly what’s happening. And then you have to actually enforce it through the democratic process with legislative activity.”

NEW: Disney has adopted a benefits program to assist employees and their minor children with “gender affirmation procedures.” This type of treatment typically includes puberty blockers, breast removal, and genital surgeries for “kids who are transitioning.” pic.twitter.com/a2zSSboe0S

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 7, 2022

Rufo played a key role in the recent fight between Disney and Republican DeSantis over a law restricting sexual and gender ideology being taught in classrooms. He leaked videos which purportedly showed internal Disney meetings in which employees plotted to inject sexual identity and gender ideology into its programming and revealed company efforts to help employees medically transition themselves and their children to the opposite sex.

After public outrage over the company’s political stances and the leaked videos, DeSantis revoked Disney’s special self-governing privileges, and Disney vowed to stop fighting that particular Florida law and be more quiet about politics generally.

“We’ve created now this model where, just recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that CEOs around the country are asking each other, How do we prevent ourselves from becoming the next Disney?’” Rufo told the DCNF.

Corporate leaders have scrambled to avoid the same pitfalls as Disney, according to the WSJ, while DeSantis’ challenge to Disney’s special district was an escalation compared to other Republican politicians’ strategies to rein in corporations.

“We put a price on woke capital. We’re enforcing it,” Rufo said. “We’re going to keep pressing and keep fighting and keep delivering consequences for companies that transgress out values and this is how we’re going to win this fight.”