Did Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison tell conservatives who "do not like our values" that they "should take their money to Home Depot"? No, that's not true: The company said the quote is false. Ellison's words from an interview with CNBC were digitally replaced in a post on X.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 26, 2024. It showed an image of what looked like a screenshot of a TV news report with a quote that read:
LOWE'S CEO MARVIN ELLISON
TO CNBC:
'If conservatives do not like our
values, they should take their
money to Home Depot.'
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Aug 28 13:46:50 2024 UTC)
The company swiftly denied he said it. On August 26, 2024, Lowe's official account published a response (archived here) in the comment section below the post that is the focus of this fact check. It read:
This statement is false. Lowes CEO did not make this comment. Everyone is welcome at Lowes.
Had the quote been authentic, it would have appeared on the CNBC website. However, a search for the exact phrase across it (archived here) produced zero results:
(Source: CNBC screenshot taken on Wed Aug 28 14:28:54 2024 UTC)
The quote shared on X was a digitally manipulated version of the graphics aired on CNBC on August 20, 2024 (archived here): It preserved the channel's graphic design but replaced the original quote and the font it was typed in.
The authentic broadcast didn't mention conservatives, values or Home Depot -- it was about Lowe's fiscal quarterly earnings.
Here are the screenshots of authentic comments from Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison (archived here), as aired by CNBC:
(Source: CNBC screenshot taken on Wed Aug 28 14:56:17 2024 UTC)
(Source: CNBC screenshot taken on Wed Aug 28 14:56:32 2024 UTC)
The fake quote started to circulate on social media amid the news that Lowe's had made changes to its diversity policies. As reported by Bloomberg (archived here), the home improvement chain ended its participation in one LGBTQ advocacy group's surveys in August 2024.
Even activist Robby Starbuck, who had called for the cancellation of diversity programs in several companies, including Lowe's, and later claimed credit for the changes, wrote on X (archived here) on August 26, 2024, about the manufactured quote:
It's a fake quote ... Not sure why someone would make that ...
A search for the exact quote across Google News (archived here) showed multiple fact checks concluding it was not authentic.
The claim was previously reviewed by Reuters, Snopes, PolitiFact, Newsweek and Fact Crescendo.
Lead Stories reached out to Lowe's for additional comments but did not receive an immediate response. If we get one, this story will be updated as appropriate.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about business are here.
