Is Woke Broke? The Decline of DEI Programs | CLIP | International Roundtable

In 2024, President Donald Trump's campaign against wokeness resonated with millions of voters. Americans cast their votes for a man that progressives despise. Let's watch. Woke has to stop, because along with everything else, it's destroying our country. We're going to stop woke. As an example, in addition to the military bases, I understand they want to now rename 14 ships. We're going to rename them. Some of these ships have had a great and glorious past. They want to take the name off and put another name down. I can imagine whose name they're going to put up. Not going to happen with me. It's not happening with me, I can promise you. Daniela, we'll start with you. What does it mean to be woke? Well, woke, the way I like to sum it up, is when you look at the world where everything is the other's fault. And once the other changes, I will feel more comfortable. And that's just not a recipe for success. There is a difference between woke and awake. Well, Linda, is it also a power struggle between progressive and conservative values? I think it really is. We're looking at, like Daniela said, you know, it's always someone else's fault, right? And the progressives, the leftists, radical leftists, they like to make sure that the society thinks of themselves as victims so the government can come in and save them. And it's a whole control thing. So the woke, as many people refer to it as the woke mind virus, I mean, it really puts people into that victimization mode and it separates people. It's really not healthy. The California wildfires are devastating Hollywood. Some commentators blame the fires on government officials who they say put their progressive values ahead of public safety. Watch. It turns out that in recent years, L.A.'s fire chief has made not filling the fire hydrants top priority, but diversity, diversity is at least among the top priorities for the department. I recall a news story from last year. There was some interest in the fire departments and the firefighters in California. And the interest was that there were too many white men. I would characterize it as a D.E.I. green new deal, high vision bomb. It's something out of Dante's Inferno. So we're back to California. We talked about this a little bit earlier, but the Los Angeles fire chief, Kristen Crowley, is the first woman and openly gay person to run the department. Has she let her progressive values distract her from public safety, Daniella? I would say so, yes. Apparently there is a memo amongst the firefighters who are very afraid to sign their names because they are afraid of retribution. But the well, it's not entirely her fault. The budget, the fire department budget has been cut with two twenty four billion dollars spent on homelessness. But the fire department budget gets defunded. There are huge problems in California in general. But no, I don't think she was as qualified as other candidates based off how the fires have played out. Now, Linda, you talked earlier about the fire hydrants and Megan Kelly said officials made diversity more important than filling fire hydrants with water. Your thoughts? Well, we can see this. This is part of that woke agenda in a sense that, you know, it's not on merit. And I would say just like we were talking before about the military and even what they're trying to do with Pete Hicks or that there's this double standard. Daniela talked about it at the beginning. It's his double standard. And they're ignoring what is common sense, what is important, what the people want, because they have a different agenda. This isn't just incompetence or, you know, just woke for the sake of woke. There is an agenda and it is to destroy our culture. And it is absolutely to remake it in the way that they would like to see it. And so, you know, whether you're looking at the result of this in the fires in Los Angeles, which are very, very evident for everyone to see, or you're looking at it in the response from FEMA in North Carolina or, you know, what's happening in the schools. This is it's just so permeating every sector of society. And we have lost the common sense. And so we need to take that back. And, you know, it's just people need to rise up. So I understand what you're saying, Linda. You're absolutely right. But, you know, we're going to talk about Hollywood because the film industry has long been criticized over its lack of diversity among the nominees. So let's watch this. Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that. The Hollywood foreign press are all very, very racist. Apple roared into the TV game with a morning show, a superb drama. Yeah, a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. So when you say you woke, but the companies you work for, I mean, unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service, you'd call your agent, wouldn't you? Now, that's a very funny comedian. That was back in 2020. Now, DEI policies have been instituted across several entertainment businesses. Has this changed help the industry, Daniela? We say when you go woke, you go broke. I think it absolutely has affected the industry, especially like institutes like Disney. I don't know the last time I saw an awards show. Even Bill Maher, who's very much a liberal, says it's all about virtue signaling. It's no longer about talent. And that again, we see the quality of the movies and films that are being chosen, reflecting that we continue. Hollywood continues to dumb down its standards in the name of DEI. When we talk about the quality of movies and films, we're also seeing a trend of people not going to movies anymore. They would rather stay home and watch movies with happy endings. So should Hollywood rethink its DEI strategy and consider making movies that Americans want to watch? Linda? Yes, I think definitely. I think that Trump has now appointed some people to be ambassadors to Hollywood, really talking about bringing American culture back to Hollywood. And I know so many people that have been in the film industry and were blacklisted, conservatives blacklisted before, and they have risen up to be that conservative voice. We see the success of films like Sound of Freedom or, you know, these films by Angel Studios and others that people flock to because they want positive and they want truth. This is important. And so, you know, go woke, go broke, yes. And Hollywood needs to take a cue. People are sick of the leftist agenda being shoved down their throat and down the throats of their children. When you have, you know, even cartoons for kids spewing all of this agenda, whether it's climate or sexual orientation or, you know, just overall liberalism, I hate America, socialism is great, you know, and you have this for kids. It's time to stop. Well, let's give Danielle a chance to respond to that, because I see you're nodding your head. You agree with this, right? Yeah. Well, you know, it's wonderful to see the phenomenon of self-correction. We saw it in our country with the popular vote and the landslide of electoral votes to see Hollywood really dying. I mean, every other movie is either part of a franchise or it has some sort of virtual signaling message that most of the American population says no thank you to. And I do think there is a demand for faith-based content, content where it reminds us of our Judeo-Christian values. You don't have to be Christian to benefit from it. I'm Jewish, and I loved so many of the films I've been seeing from faith-based studios. We want to feel hopeful again. That is the American spirit. We want to feel united as human beings. We don't want to be lectured. We don't want to be taught something. We don't want to be messaged to. We want to be inspired and entertained. I want to talk about Disney now. So Florida Governor Ron DeSantis branded the Walt Disney Company a woke corporation, and he campaigned on killing the woke agenda. So let's watch this clip. We reject this woke ideology. We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida, Florida, Florida is where woke goes to die. Now Governor DeSantis has described wokeness as cultural Marxism. Linda, what did he mean? Well, it really destroys our culture, like Daniela was talking about our Judeo-Christian culture. When we look at the definition of wokeism in a sense, what we've been talking about, this division, this anti-government, like they want big government, but it is Marxism because it divides, it destroys, it's anti-American, and it does not allow for the life, liberty, pursuit of happiness that made America strong and great and gave people that hope that Daniela talked about. You know, that is what we want. We want to provide human flourishing and opportunity and hope and prosperity. And that's what America is about, freedom. Woke ideologies do not promote freedom. They promote a socialist agenda that really enslaves people. Well, you know, Disney fought the governor's efforts to clamp down on wokeness, yet several families have changed their views on Disney, and some even canceled their Disney Plus subscription. So Daniela, why isn't DEI working for Disney? Yes, I spoke about this in the past. When you alienate the parents who are the consumers of this content, you are going to feel it. And so many parents, like myself, who are no longer comfortable, no longer trust the Disney brand to plop our children in front of, that they will take away something positive from because things are being put into it, like the pronouns, the genders. There is now an ideology in my children's entertainment that I will not compromise on, and therefore you've lost my subscription. And that's been felt across the board, not just with Disney, but institutes like Harvard. When you alienate the parents, when you alienate the children, it's the parents who are going to pull the plug. Now, Disney did end up firing their CEO after DeSantis took them on. And recently, Disney cut a transgender character in a new series. Is this the woke trend starting to back off, Linda? Well, I would say I hope so. And I see that. But it's like we talked about, go woke, go broke. We see a lot of these companies really turning away from some of their previous agendas. And they're understanding that the culture does not want to go there. People don't want to go there. And they will no longer survive as a company if they keep promoting those ideologies. So yes, and again, that goes back to what I mentioned before. And what Daniela said is that it's the people making the difference, whether we make our difference in the voting booth, like we did in November, or we make our difference in how we spend our money and we support only the companies or programs that align with our values and our values that made America strong and great. We want a strong America so all people can flourish, regardless of their race or their gender. You know, that's what we want.