FIRST ON FOX: Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat running for governor in the key swing state, recently attended the National Action Network’s convention and urged the audience to “stay woke” while defending businesses who push DEI.
Ford, who stood up and cheered when New York’s Democratic Attorney General Letitia James walked into the room at Al Sharpton’s event before embracing her, touted the “affirmative action scholarship” that he received to attend Texas A&M University while speaking at the convention earlier this month.
“When they talk about the opposite of equity, its inequity, you know what that means. You work hard, but you don’t get the same thing everyone else gets for the same work that they’ve done,” Ford said, before praising companies who have refused to scrap DEI policies.
“Whether it’s Costco… whether it’s Delta, whether it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, I know I’m in the wrong city for that, but the point I’m making is these places that adamantly and continue to support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, we should support because they support us,” Ford said.
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Ford then suggested that the term “woke” was a badge of honor rather than a negative.
“Here’s what’s happening right now, they don’t want you to ‘wake up everybody,'” Ford said, referencing a Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes song.
“That’s why they’ve got a war on woke, you understand? They don’t want you asking what’s going on? They want you ignorant, they want you complacent. That’s why they changing history books right before your eyes, and so it’s important that you stay woke and that you continue asking questions and hold folks accountable. That’s what you can do and you can do that anytime, every time whenever you feel like making it happen.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to Ford’s office for comment.
Ford, who has said he plans to run for governor against Republican incumbent Joe Lombardo as a Democrat in a state President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2024, made his comments touting DEI shortly after Trump began his push to rid DEI from the federal government.
Additionally, companies across the country have been moving away from DEI.
Sharpton, the president of National Action Network, has called on his followers to boycott companies that have moved away from DEI, including Target. Sharpton recently met with the retail giant’s CEO in a meeting that Sharpton reportedly asked for.
“You can’t have an election come and all of a sudden, change your old positions,” Sharpton said. “If an election determines your commitment to fairness, then fine, you have a right to withdraw from us, but then we have a right to withdraw from you.”
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