As major companies across America continue to roll back their DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) programs in the aftermath of President Donald Trump's November election win, others, including their shareholders, refuse to do so. 

On Wednesday's ridiculous episode of MSNBC's "Way Too Early," host Ali Vitali trotted out DEI activist Lauren Leader to eagerly endorse the vote by Apple shareholders not to abandon the company's DEI programs.

Vitali kicked off the festivities by asking why she thought Apple shareholders made the decision to "swim against the current" of other other larger corporations abandoning DEI. 

Joining us now, co-founder and CEO of All In Together, Lauren Leader. Lauren, so what do you make of Apple shareholders' decision to kind of swim against the current here and keep their diversity and inclusion programs? 

Leader's response was a bit oxymoronic (emphasis, mine).

Well, look, I think for companies that are consumer-facing like Apple, diversity and inclusion is really mission critical. Because it's about how they build products and services that are responsive to the marketplace, which is, in their case, the whole world. 

So I think, you know, Apple's been very clear that they were not interested in you know, outside pressure on this, and that they were going to prioritize their shareholders and prioritize the business itself. 

Huh?

"Consumer-facing?" What consequences did But Light, Diet Coke, and Target Corp. face after abandoning their core markets by making ill-advised marketing decisions? Moreover, Leader's assumption that prioritizing shareholders and prioritizing their bottom-line business was naive at best; they are far from mutually inclusive. 

Perhaps the DEI "expert" should look into the billions of dollars lost by the aforementioned companies' decision to pander to a minute percentage of the population — at the risk of ticking off previously loyal customers.

ALSO READ:

BlackRock, BofA Ditch DEI, Even After Once Vowing 'We Must Embed DEI Into Everything We Do'

Last Major US Company Exits 'ESG' Silliness Because a Court Rules It Is Illegal and Congress Hates It

Leader describes herself on her website as "a thought leader and advisor who has devoted her career to advancing gender equality and American democracy."

Lauren is also founder of a boutique consulting firm that works with a wide array of institutions and leaders both in business and politics to advance diversity and equality. She has served dozens of major companies and institutions in that capacity.

She is an opinion contributor to Politico Magazine, The Hill and numerous other publications highlighting issues of gender and politics and has been a weekly contributor to Morning Joe since 2017.

She appears regularly on an array of MSNBC and CNN showsspeaking to issues relating to women, politics, and democracy. She has been a guest and regular substitute host on SiriusXM POTUS since 2015.

Quite the leftist pedigree.

After a fair amount of meaningless left-wing narrative by Vitali, Leader inadvertently tried to have it both ways.

In business and democracy and government and everywhere. I mean, I think, and look, all the polls show that the vast majority of Americans really understand this. I mean, diversity is what this country was built on. 

And most Americans do understand that it should be a level playing field for all. 

Numerous questions abound, including:

How does one create inclusion through intentional exclusion? 

It doesn't. The fundamental flaw in the insanity of DEI is the absurd notion that "equity" trumps merit. While America might have indeed been built by diverse people, I'll go out a limb and bet that equity didn't trump (no pun intended) the abilities (merit) of those who built it.

How or why should equal opportunity lead to equal results?

While the left continually denies that it seeks equal results, of course it does — at least to a degree, which is why the Democrat Party has never seen a wealth redistribution it hasn't eagerly supported.

How, specifically, is the "playing field" not "level"?

If anything, my left-wing friends, the radicalized Democrat Party is hellbent to un-level the playing field by supporting DEI initiatives that are in effect quota systems that favor hiring so-called transgenders and others over more qualified people.

Why does "leveling the playing field" sound more like lowering the bar and expectations?

Because that's exactly what it is. From the elimination of various requirements for high school graduation, college admission and graduation, and employment requirements, the soft bigotry of low expectations is alive on the left, inclusive of the entire insanity of DEI.

The Bottom Line

While left-leaning Apple is a unique company in that a large percentage of its customers, including this writer, are conservative and loyal to its products, the writing on the wall is clear: DEI's days as an acceptable policy in corporate America are numbered. Will Apple ever heed that writing? Only time — and the company's bottom line — will tell.