STUART VARNEY (HOST): I want to talk to you about the CEOs from retailers who are meeting now with President Trump in the White House. You say that if a CEO -- of any company -- takes a political position, ultimately they lose, lose support in the marketplace, lose political support and lose the support of their employees. And your example is Target. Take us through it, please.
TONY PERKINS: Right. Well, Target decided to unilaterally weigh in on these crazy bathroom policies. And they decided to want to force their customers to have to use the restroom and changing room, men with women, women with men, and they have taken a hit in their stocks. While you just pointed out the stock market has continued to go up, retailers are actually doing better, they have actually seen a decline. Their stock has gone from about $85, down to about $65. They have lost $10 billion in assets. What’s happening, they had to cancel two major projects that they had on the drawing boards. And quite frankly, if you want to see a live rendition of CSI, you’ve got a good chance if you go to Target because increasingly you’ve had crime scenes in their restrooms and in their changing rooms.
VARNEY: Do you think it will be the other way around if a CEO of any corporation came out full-throated for Donald Trump, President Trump, you think that the stock would go up and that that CEO would receive a lot of support?
PERKINS: Well, I mean, there is incidents of that. You saw a few years ago when Chick-Fil-A weighed in and took a stand for natural marriage. And they had overwhelming support from their consumer base. Here is what I advocate. Look, if you make widgets, make widgets. Don't get involved in the culture wars. CEOs of these major corporations and retailers should do what they're created to do, and what their stockholders want them to do, and that is do business. Leave the culture issues to those who do culture issues.
