Last week, New York Times columnist Timothy Egan penned a scathing critique of Walmart’s corporate culture. In an article entitled “The Corporate Daddy,” Egan claims Walmart is a “net drain on taxpayers” that forces “employees into public assistance with its poverty-wage structure” among other things.
Instead of sitting by idly, Walmart decided to hit back against the claims. In a blog post, Walmart’s vice president of corporate communications David Tovar fact checked the Times article – tearing through Egan’s piece with a red pen just like a high school English teacher.
“Did you see what the New York Times did to Walmart,” Glenn asked on radio this morning. “I mean, oh my God, Walmart was genius in this… It's really brilliant.”
Tovar published the blog post on Friday and explained Walmart “couldn't overlook how wildly inaccurate” the Times article was, so they decided to have “some fun with it.”
Below is the article with Tovar's "corrections":
“It's really so sloppy by the New York Times,” Stu said of the article. “I mean they don't even understand their facts at all. PolitiFact is no friend of Walmart in the right, but they even said this is a giant lie.”
In the blog, Tovar pointed out that Walmart is the “largest tax payer in America” and has hired more than 42,000 veterans this year alone. Furthermore, Walmart pays the average full-time associate $12.91 an hour.
Ultimately, Tovar believes the Times should have picked a different angle for the piece.
“Better idea for the piece,” Tovar wrote. “Could focus on bringing back U.S. manufacturing (Walmart is buying $250 billion in US products over 10 years) and expanding education, training and workforce development programs. i.e. things that will make a bigger difference, not just focusing on starting wages.”
“Since when did we become the this country where you can't run your business the way you want to. You know,” Glenn asked. “Since when did we have to lie about businesses because we hate business so much? We're trying to create jobs, and yet we hate business? How is that? How does that work for anybody?”
At the end of the day, Pat believes the deep-seated hatred of Walmart boils down the company’s refusal to play by the left’s rules.
“The hatred of Walmart is just irrational. But I think it has to do with the fact that… they've resisted unionizing and that just drives the left out of their mind. They can't stand the fact that the largest employer in the world is not a union shop. And if it were, it wouldn't be Walmart anymore.”