As Target continues to suffer billions in losses amidst its Pride Month push, Professor Justin Wolfers claimed on MSNBC Thursday that the company was either acting cowardly or are victims of "economic terrorism."
"Look, one of two things is true," Prof. Wolfers said. "It could be that they're cowards and used that as protection and a smokescreen so they could make a cowardly decision, or it could be that they're actually genuinely concerned about the well-being of their employees and have had credible threats."
Target has lost $9 billion in stock value as a parent-fueled boycott against the company continues to rage. The Target controversy follows closely on the heels of another boycott against Bud Light after it partnered with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney.
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Wolfers argued that if Target "caves" into the boycott, then Americans will learn that they can affect company policy on a societal level.
"When Target caves into this, then it says that the moment you threaten the employees of even a very large corporation you get to control its policies. This is economic terrorism. Literally terrorism," he said.
"Creating fear among the workers and forcing the corporations to sell the things you want, not sell the things you don't. So I think it's very worrying," the professor added.
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Wolfers pointed out that the punishment Target is experiencing for pushing transgender ideology on families and on children might have a ripple effect on other companies.
"I do wonder, if Target has a corporate, social responsibility, beyond its commitments to diversity, I also mean to the broader business community. If it gives in here, everyone else and everyone else’s employees have to look out that they’ll be being looked at next," he said.
A Target insider told Fox News Digital that many locations, mostly in rural areas of the South, have relocated Pride sections to avoid the kind of backlash Bud Light has received in recent weeks after using a transgender influencer in a promotional campaign.
"We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can’t have anything on mannequins and no large signage," the Target insider said.
"We call our customers ‘guests,’ there is outrage on their part. This year, it is just exponentially more than any other year," the Target insider continued. "I think given the current situation with Bud Light, the company is terrified of a Bud Light situation."
Fox News Digital's Brian Flood, Kristine Parks, Lindsay Kornick and Alexa Moutevelis contributed to this report.
