Costco shoppers shared their opinions about the company’s “commitment” to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in the wake of many other retailers scaling back their DEI efforts.

“Baloney, to be honest with you. I think they should get rid of it,” Robert of Madison Heights, Michigan told Fox News Digital. “Puts people in there that aren’t qualified to do this, to do the job that they’re hired for.”

Shoppers in Michigan, Texas and New York spoke with Fox News Digital while they were shopping or pumping gas at the retail store.

Several customers shared similar sentiments as Robert, evoking the term “merit” when prompted to respond to whether DEI has valid implications.

REV. AL SHARPTON THREATENS BOYCOTTS FOR COMPANIES ENDING DEI: ‘YOU TOOK EVERYTHING’

“I mean you hire on merit alone,” Clara in Tomball, Texas said.

“I think it should be merit based,” said Laura, a Texas resident.

Costco shareholders voted earlier this month to reject an anti-DEI proposal brought by activist shareholder group National Center for Public Policy Research.

While Costco is standing firm behind its DEI policies, many other corporations have announced plans to ditch the controversial programs following a nationwide backlash. Facebook, McDonald’s, Walmart, Harley-Davidson and many other companies have all rolled back their DEI programs in recent months.

Costco is bucking the trend and appears to have the support of some of their customers.

Costco is currently one of the world’s most successful retailers, boasting a market cap of over $320 billion. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

“I support DEI practices,” Texas resident John told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS

“I think they need to include everybody. That’s where this planet is going. It’s truly about the whole and not the few,” Allen, a Texas resident, said.

While pumping gas at a Costco in Madison Heights, a patron was asked whether Costco should care more about hiring practices with DEI objectives or lowering grocery prices.

“I would say DEI because the person is more important,” Carol said.

She added that she does not agree with President Donald Trump’s position to get rid of DEI policies in the federal government.

However, a patron in Harlem told Fox News Digital that the retailer should care more about the price of groceries.

“The price of groceries. Yeah. Too much. Too much. Are you kidding me? I mean, I’m working. I have a little pension, and I still can’t make ends meet,” the shopper said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order terminating all federal DEI programs. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

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A customer, who did not disclose his name, said he is a “huge fan of DEI.”

“I think there’s a lot of ignorance out there,” he said. “I really do. I mean, I think we have a history of just being discriminatory in this country. And I don’t think that it improves anybody’s life if you don’t support programs like that.”

It’s hard to believe that 2025 is already 1/12 complete. We survived the transition from an incoherent placeholder presidency to the new America and a new president. We endured the global cooling, oops, warming, that brought snow to Florida and Texas and 11-degree mornings to north Georgia. 

January didn’t stop there. It featured the terrifying nightmare of a Dunkin’ Donuts shortage and the media freakout over the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America. Along the way, the world kept getting crazier. Like always, the press led the way. Here are some of the craziest stories from the month gone by:

New media watch out

Lefty Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin announced she is joining the mass exodus from the paper and starting a new venture called The Contrarian. (She hasn’t been contrary to the major media in years.) She posted a short (Thank, God!) video with partner Norm Eisen, a CNN legal analyst. The video was widely panned as “cringe” and depicted the pair claiming their new outlet would be “an exciting new online platform.” That was said with all the passion you get watching milk curdle.

Eisen added, “[B]ut we know that any successful, pro-democracy movement also has to be very vocal about culture.” He promised a cooking column, “but we’re gonna sprinkle in a little bit of pro-democracy flavor.” NeverTrump cooking lessons. Yum! 

CRYSTAL BALL NEWS SHOWS 6 WAYS MEDIA WILL WAR WITH TRUMP ONE MORE TIME

It was like watching a mixture of an old-school “Saturday Night Live” skit overlaid with the berserk, faux sincerity of NPR. If you were making a video to make fun of them, it wouldn’t have been this hilarious. 

Don’t quote me

The White House exes – both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris – reminded voters of what fun we missed with four more years of either candidate. Biden, who delivered word mush for many years before the press was forced to admit it, couldn’t handle the difficult challenge of singing… “Happy Birthday.”

Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris listo to President Donald Trump deliver his inaugural address at the Capitol, Jan. 20, 2025. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

The former prez who, at 82, has presumably heard the song a few times, still flubbed it. Apparently, he couldn’t remember the name of the young guest named Alicio. When it came time to muster the name, Biden just drifted off into Mumble City. The only thing the video lacked was Alicio going all Walter White and telling Biden, “Say my name.”

THE GREAT DEBATE: IS DONALD TRUMP COOL?

Not to be outdone, Harris couldn’t even muster the “Pledge of Allegiance.” She’s old enough at 60 to have attended school when teachers still taught it, before the left wrecked American education. Didn’t matter. Even though she urged the Senate to “join me in pledging allegiance to our flag,” she forgot the flag as soon as she started. “To the flag” are words four through six of the pledge, except when leftists say it. 

Let’s just call that flagging patriotism.

Dunkin’ outlets experience a doughnut shortage. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Running out of dough

Dunkin’ (Formerly Dunkin’ Donuts), one of America’s premier sugar-delivery operations, ran out of… doughnuts (The correct spelling, for the marketing folks at Dunkin’.) Outages were reported in New Mexico and Nebraska. Corporate said just 4% of the stores ran out, except Dunkin’ has 9,500 stores. So, nearly 400 stores had no doughnuts and no donuts.

Speaking for the doughnut-eating (and Dunkin’-loving) citizens of the world. Do better. Don’t make us find another location to spend our dough – or buy it.

TRUMP’S TRIUMPH: FIRST WEEK PROVES PRESIDENT RIGHT IN ALL THESE WAYS

It’s springtime for…

Longtime readers know my favorite movie is the original “Producers.” It’s an incredible comedy that makes fun of Nazis. And now, thanks to entrepreneur Elon Musk and the laughably leftist media, the movie is current events.

Musk, with his characteristic, socially awkward introversion, gave his heart to the crowd at a Trump gathering, thrusting his hand into the air. The media swarmed, creating the first viral, phony controversy of the Trump Two era. Even the far left Anti-Defamation League, which bashes Nazis for a living, said it wasn’t a Nazi salute. Didn’t matter. An enormous number of so-called news outlets pretended it was. 

Wonder how many of those making this phony claim are still driving their Teslas. 

Legally blind

Justice is blind, they say. It’s also pretty stupid. Reese Witherspoon, star of the epic legal comedy “Legally Blonde” and its pathetic sequel, ended up on jury duty. Kudos to her for refusing to dodge her civic duty. But she wasn’t the problem.

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Witherspoon revealed on the “Graham Norton Show” that the other jurors “unanimously” chose her as foreman. Why? Because they thought she had gone to law school, because of a movie. OK, admittedly it was Beverly Hills, so intellect generally not required. Except they make the movies nearby. One might think they’d know what actors do.

Witherspoon revealed on the “Graham Norton Show” that she was chosen as a jury foreman because of her “Legally Blonde” background. (Getty Images)

When the manure hits the fan

Say the word Peta and people worldwide think of the most-annoying group of Karens imaginable, the kind who work for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. What better way to end than to say the group is full of… manure.

A pair of Peta poo promoters tried to dump a truckload of manure on the headquarters of their competitors – the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA. Only the manure managers at Peta had their heads in their… truck so far that they forgot manure freezes. And they tried the dumping during the peak cold front in Manhattan.

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The result showed a frustrated Peta person digging the manure out of the truck bed like he had been cast in some disturbing remake of “Frozen.” New York’s finest locked him and his partner up, while most of the manure stayed lodged in the truck. 

I guess it’s true, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DAN GAINOR

A manhunt is underway for a 32-year-old woman suspected of buying the handguns used in the killing of a Vermont Border Patrol agent last week, according to a report. 

Law enforcement agencies in several states are searching for Michelle J. Zajko, who is considered “armed and dangerous,” Albany’s Times Union reported, citing police records. 

U.S. Border Patrol Agent David “Chris” Maland was gunned down near the Canada-Vermont border Jan. 20, and, four days later, Teresa Youngblut, 21, was taken into custody.

“The United States Attorney’s Office District of Vermont has charged Youngblut with assault on a federal law enforcement officer,” the FBI’s office in Albany said at the time. “Our hearts remain with our partners at U.S. Border Patrol Swanton Sector as they mourn this tremendous loss.” 

GUN USED IN VERMONT BORDER AGENT SHOOTOUT LINKED TO DOUBLE MURDER SUSPECT, PROSECUTORS SAY

David Maland, a Minnesota native and U.S. Air Force veteran, worked as a Border Patrol agent at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Newport Station.  (U.S. Border Patrol)

Maland was shot and killed during a traffic stop of Youngblut between Newport and Orleans, Vermont. Her passenger, Felix Bauckholt, was also armed but was fatally shot by federal agents after Youngblut opened fire. 

Zajko allegedly bought .40-caliber and .380-caliber handguns in February 2024 in Mount Tabor, Vermont, that were used in Maland’s shooting, the Times Union reported, citing court documents. 

GERMAN NATIONAL SUSPECT IDENTIFIED IN KILLING OF US BORDER PATROL AGENT IN VERMONT

Zajko is also considered a “person of interest” in a double murder in Pennsylvania and another murder in California, prosecutors revealed, without naming her. 

A Border Patrol Agent moves a robotic device next to a Border Patrol vehicle on southbound Route 91 near Newport, Vt., where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot dead Jan. 20, 2025. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)

Maland, a Minnesota native and U.S. Air Force veteran, worked as a Border Patrol agent at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Newport Station. He spent nine years in the military and 15 working for the federal government. 

He was also a K-9 handler and previously served as a Border Patrol agent in Texas near the southern border, Maland’s family told The Associated Press. 

“On January 20, 2025, at approximately 3:00 pm, an on-duty, uniformed United States Border Patrol (USBP) Agent initiated a stop of a blue 2015 Toyota Prius Hatchback with [a] North Carolina license plate … to conduct an immigration inspection as it was driving southbound on Interstate 91 in Coventry, Vermont,” an FBI criminal complaint obtained by Fox News states.

“The registered owner of the vehicle, Felix Baukholt, a citizen of Germany, appeared to have an expired visa in a Department of Homeland Security database. Youngblut was driving the Prius, and Baukholt was the lone passenger in the Prius.  

Teresa Youngblut, charged by the FBI in the shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland, in the office at the Newport City Inn Jan. 14, 2025, in Newport, Vt., in a still frame photograph from video released by the inn, which confirmed her identity. (Associated Press)

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“Between approximately 3:00 pm and 3:15 pm, agents reported gunshots at the scene,” the affidavit added. “Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Cameron Thompson was notified of the incident and responded to the scene of the stop, arriving at approximately 3:35 pm. 

“He spoke with two of the Border Patrol Agents involved in the incident. They described that both Baukholt and Youngblut possessed firearms and that Youngblut drew and fired a handgun toward at least one of the uniformed Border Patrol Agents without warning when outside the driver’s side of the Prius.” 

The FBI’s Albany office shared a statement with Fox News Digital that said: “As stated in open court and in court filings, Teresa Youngblut is believed to have associations with other individuals suspected of violent acts in multiple states, to include Pennsylvania and California. The FBI is coordinating information sharing on any case related details with our partners from various law enforcement agencies to effectively follow every lead and aggressively investigate these connections. As part of the continuous dialogue with those partners, especially following an assault on a law enforcement officer, the FBI routinely shares appropriate law enforcement information about potential persons of interest to enhance officer safety and situational awareness. As this is an ongoing investigation, the FBI cannot comment further on any additional details not included in the court filings.” 

Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

Emotions were running high at The Skating Club of Boston Thursday after six people with ties to the organization died in a plane crash near Reagan International Airport Wednesday night. 

Among those who spoke were Olympic silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan, who couldn’t hold back tears while talking about the crash.

President Donald Trump said there were no survivors after an American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. 

The plane was carrying 64 people, among them teenage skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, their mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane and their coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. 

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Three members of The Skating Club of Boston — Misha Mitrofanov, Jimmy Ma and Alisa Efimova — also spoke of their peers, who they say were the next generation of hopeful U.S. Olympians.

 “The potential that they showed on the ice and the capabilities they had at such a young age showed that they had promise for the future of this sport,” Mitrofanov, whose partner is Efimova, told reporters Thursday. 

Mitrofanov and Efimova had just won the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, in the pairs discipline. That’s where the American Airlines flight was coming from. Han and Lane were returning from a developmental camp over the weekend.

OLYMPIC GREAT NANCY KERRIGAN FIGHTS THROUGH TEARS AS SHE TALKS ABOUT VICTIMS IN TRAGIC PLANE CRASH

“The camp basically brings them in for the championships so that they can watch, for example, Jimmy, or at least an ice skate at a championship level,” Mitrofanov said. “Afterwards, they are part of a fairly strict routine. … Lot of training, lots of drills and exercises that the U.S. Figure Skating wants to see.”

Han, 13, and Lane, 16, were chosen for the developmental camp because of the promise they showed, and Ma was blunt about just how promising these two skaters were. 

“Absolutely phenomenal,” Ma said. “If I was their age back when I was their age, they would blow me out of the water. Even Jinna, at 13 years old, I couldn’t do anything. She was already 10 times better than me at such a young age.

Jimmy Ma skates during the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena. (William Purnell.Imagn Images)

“They showed championship-level skating. It would take time for them to develop to maximize their full potential. But the amount they were able to achieve in such a short amount of time was absolutely remarkable.”

Efimova said the campers were spotted in the crowd in the red jackets they would wear, and as she worked along with Mitrofanov to win in pairs, she used their cheering as motivation. 

“They all have these red jackets, so you can really, really identify this community during the competition, which helps me personally a lot to bring a lot of joy into skating,” Efimova said.

Ma also pointed out how great Shishkova and Naumov, winners at the 1994 world championships in pairs while competing in two Olympic Games, were as coaches. 

“Their meticulousness in developing young skaters is almost unparalleled,” Ma explained. “You could tell by their son, Max, who I consider not just a friend, but a fierce competitor. I look at him every day, I’m like, ‘Damn, I got to do better.’ That was all them.”

Evgenia Shishkova (left), Vadim Naumov (center) and Spencer Lane (right) were victims of the collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter. (Instagram/annehgoldbergbaldwin)

The Skating Club of Boston wasn’t the only figure skating community that was hit by this. The Philadelphia Skating Club & Humane Society posted on social media that “beloved members” of its team were on the flight. Skating coach Alexandr Kirsanov and two of his youth skaters were also aboard the fight, according to Kirsanov’s wife, per ABC News.

“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. “We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts.”

As the figure skating world and others affected by the crash mourn the losses of loved ones, Mitrofanov said skaters will continue to train and compete with their “family” in mind. 

Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov receive scores during the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena. (William Purnell/Imagn Images)

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“Watching these kids skate and watching their fire and love for the sport, that’s what helped us to, honestly, continue training,” Mitrofanov said. “Watching these kids develop helps us want to push ourselves as well. It’s a two-way street that they look up to us, but we also look up to them.”

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