If you read only the headline numbers from the Buy Woke Free database, the warehouse club war looks like a blowout. Costco Wholesale scores 45/100 on the BWF Woke Score and earns a "woke" label. Walmart — the parent company of Sam's Club — scores 90/100 and earns "extremely woke." On the scorecard alone, conservative shoppers should grab their membership card and march straight into Sam's Club without a second thought.
Except 2025 happened. And 2026 is making it worse.
In the months since President Trump's January 2025 executive order targeting federal DEI programs, the warehouse club world has split in two. Walmart, under CEO Doug McMillon, quietly dismantled its most visible DEI commitments in late 2024 ahead of the political turn. Costco, under CEO Ron Vachris and Chairman Hamilton "Tony" James, did the opposite: it dug in, recommended shareholders reject an anti-DEI proposal, and watched 98% of them vote to keep DEI alive at the warehouse club.
The result is the most uncomfortable comparison in conservative retail: the brand with the lower historical woke score is now the more aggressively woke brand in real time. Here's what that means for your wallet.
The BWF Scorecard: Walmart 90, Costco 45
The Buy Woke Free Woke Score weighs six factors: ESG reporting, DEI programs, Pride sponsorships, HRC Corporate Equality Index rating, political contributions, and CEO Action for Diversity participation. On every backward-looking measure, Walmart eats Costco for breakfast.
- ESG: Walmart has filed full ESG reports for over a decade. Costco's reporting is thinner and more reluctant.
- DEI Programs: Walmart's $100 million racial equity commitment after George Floyd was one of the largest in American retail. Costco took symbolic actions — dropping Palmetto Cheese over BLM comments, for example — but never scaled to nine figures.
- Pride: Walmart spent years as a Platinum-level Pride sponsor with rainbow merchandise and corporate parade entries. Costco kept Pride quieter, often absent from store displays.
- HRC CEI: Walmart held a perfect 100/100 rating from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index year after year. Costco's CEI footprint is smaller.
- CEO Action for Diversity: Walmart was a high-profile signatory. Costco never joined.
That history is why Walmart sits at 90 and Costco at 45. If you're buying based on which company spent the last 15 years pushing the woke agenda hardest, Sam's Club's parent is the clear winner — for the wokesters, that is.
The 2025 Pivot: Walmart Walked, Costco Doubled Down
In November 2024, Walmart announced it would end racial equity training, stop using "DEI" terminology, wind down its Center for Racial Equity, and review supplier diversity programs. Robby Starbuck took a victory lap. Conservative shoppers cheered. Sam's Club, as a Walmart division, inherited the rollback by default.
Two months later, on January 23, 2025, Costco shareholders voted on a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) demanding the company evaluate the risks of its DEI programs. Costco's board didn't just recommend a "no" vote — it publicly defended DEI as "good for business" and rebuked companies that had scaled back.
The result: more than 98% of Costco shareholders voted against the anti-DEI proposal. Costco board members went on financial news shows to defend the policy. Some even suggested critics shop at Sam's Club instead.
That's not subtle. That's a corporate middle finger to the Trump-era DEI rollback — and to roughly half of Costco's own customer base.
2026 Update: Costco's Position Has Only Hardened
Through 2025 and into 2026, Costco has continued to publicly defend its DEI structure even as Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Tractor Supply, Meta, McDonald's, Boeing, Lowe's, and dozens of Fortune 500 names have rolled back or rebranded their programs. Costco joined Apple as one of the only major American retailers actively resisting the shareholder pressure to scale down.
Sam's Club, meanwhile, has continued operating under Walmart's quieter 2024 framework: no more "DEI" branding, supplier diversity reviewed, racial equity center wound down, and a noticeably softer Pride footprint in 2025 compared to 2023.
The practical effect on the BWF Woke Score is that Costco's 45 is a floor that is rising, while Walmart's 90 is a ceiling that is slowly cracking. The two scores will converge — and they may cross.
The Conservative Verdict: Neither Is Clean, But One Is Trending Right
For Buy Woke Free readers asking the simple question — "Where should I buy my bulk paper towels?" — the honest answer in 2026 is uncomfortable:
- Costco is currently the more actively woke warehouse club, despite its lower historical score. Every dollar you spend there funds a board that is publicly defending DEI in defiance of conservative shareholders and the Trump administration.
- Sam's Club is part of a corporate parent (Walmart) with a much deeper woke history, but one that is visibly moving in the right direction. The 90 score reflects 15 years of damage; the 2024-2026 behavior reflects course correction.
If your priority is rewarding companies moving the right direction, Sam's Club is the better card to carry today. If your priority is punishing companies with the worst historical record, both deserve your skepticism — but Walmart still owns that crown.
Better Patriot Alternatives
For shoppers who want to skip the warehouse club drama entirely, consider these alternatives that have either avoided DEI entirely or actively built conservative-friendly business models:
- PublicSq. (PSQH) — Conservative marketplace explicitly designed to compete with woke retail.
- Misfits Market / Imperfect Foods — Grocery-focused, lower political profile than the warehouse clubs.
- Local warehouse co-ops — Many states have farmer-owned bulk co-ops with zero corporate ESG infrastructure.
- Restaurant Depot — Members-only wholesale with a notably apolitical corporate posture.
The Bottom Line
The warehouse aisle isn't the slam-dunk Costco-bashing exercise the 45 vs 90 scorecard suggests. In 2026, Costco is the loud DEI defender and Sam's Club is the quieter rollback story. For conservative shoppers who reward behavior over history, that flips the warehouse war on its head — at least for now.
Check the live Buy Woke Free scores on both Costco Wholesale and Walmart before your next bulk run. The scorecards are moving — and so should your wallet.