WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott teamed up with Black Rifle Coffee Company CEO, Evan Hafer, to write an op-ed for Fox News about the dangers of woke Wall Street’s backwards priorities and the impacts on American ideals like personal freedoms and the free-market system.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott and Evan Hafer wrote:

”There are two reasons socialism will never catch on in this country – Americans aren’t stupid and freedom can’t exist without free-market capitalism.

Freedom means choices, which are the result of ideas competing for money. As people who have both built large, successful companies, we know that consumers reward entrepreneurs by buying their products and services and institutional financing flows to the winners. 

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But in recent years, Wall Street elites have tried to replace this system of free-market capitalism with the socialist cult of ‘ESG’ (Environmental, Social and Governance). Now, woke Wall Street money managers think that they should decide who wins and loses, based on politics not profitability.

As businessmen, we find this ridiculous. As conservatives, we find it downright disturbing. 

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Wall Street tried to make Black Rifle’s veteran founders go woke. They told them to ‘tone down’ their gun-themed branding and delete shooting videos from their YouTube channel because it might offend snowflakes. 

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The message was loud and clear – if you don’t behave, we will starve you of funds. 

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Businesses which sell unconventional products or serve conservative-leaning customers are constantly under pressure to conform with ESG and are often refused capital if they don’t. This is not a warning about the future, this is the reality right now.

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We’re not afraid to say what everyone is thinking – ESG is the slippery slope to a Chinese-style social credit system. 

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Americans are starting to see through the hypocrisy and political control. We agree that it’s time for an ESG reckoning.

To urge that reckoning forward, Senator Scott has worked with his colleagues to bring the fight against ESG into the United States Senate. He has introduced the Transaction and Sourcing Knowledge (TASK) Act to require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as part of its evaluation of any ESG guidance to report on sourcing activities and transactions with companies done within the Xinjiang province in Communist China—known for human rights abuses, specifically against the Uyghur community. He is also urging ESG fund managers and state pension plan administrators to not prioritize ESG ideals, but do their intended job and responsibly manage investor dollars to provide a return on investment.

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We will continue to fight this ridiculous practice, but the reality is that as long as woke Wall Street can continue to force conservative companies to conform, there can be no equal access to capital markets. 

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A reckoning is coming for woke Wall Street. Let’s make them face the music.”

Read the full op-ed in Fox News HERE.

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