On Wednesday, Penske Truck Rental tried to Bud Light itself by releasing a virtue-signaling statement criticizing the Department of Homeland Security for using one of its vehicles during an immigration enforcement operation.
“Penske Truck Rental is aware of recent reports and videos regarding a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation in Los Angeles,” the statement said. “Penske strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances. The company was not made aware that its trucks would be used in today’s operation and did not authorize this. Penske will reach out to DHS and reinforce its policy to avoid improper use of its vehicles in the future.”
The Department of Homeland Security conducted a Wednesday raid near a Los Angeles Home Depot termed “Operation Trojan Horse,” according to Fox 11. A DHS representative “confirmed 16 undocumented migrants from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Nicaragua were detained.”
“Video shows several agents bursting from the rear of a Penske moving truck, then running toward a group of people near a sidewalk food stand. The crowd scattered when they saw the federal agents,” the outlet reported. “DHS officials told FOX News that the notorious MS-13 gang has a ‘chokehold’ on the area, which warranted such enforcement operations.”
But Penske didn’t seem to make a similar statement, as pointed out by The Federalist’s CEO and co-founder Sean Davis, when authorities found 58 migrants “crammed” into a Penske truck in an “alleged human smuggling” incident.
The driver, “identified as Marquez Oviel, an illegal immigrant from Mexico,” was arrested after migrants were caught “loading into the back of a worn out rental truck,” Fox News reported in April of 2023, citing the Texas Department of Public Safety. Of the 58 migrants, there were 49 men and 9 women from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala, according to Fox News.
The Federalist was also unable to find a statement from the company explicitly condemning a separate incident reported last September. According to the Laredo Morning Times, a Penske rental truck was used in an attempt to transport nine migrants.
Penske press contacts did not respond to an inquiry from The Federalist asking why — if Penske “strictly prohibits the transportation of people in the cargo area of its vehicles under any circumstances” — the company did not release statements condemning the alleged human smuggling incidents. Notably, Penske Transportation Solutions has highlighted its partnership with the nonprofit organization Truckers Against Trafficking to “combat human trafficking.”
The apparent double standard in Penske’s outrage is not surprising considering the company’s proclaimed commitment to woke DEI policies, as Davis pointed out in a subsequent post on X.
Under Penske’s “Our Company” section on their website is a page dedicated to “Diversity and Inclusion” with a statement from President and CEO of Penske Truck Leasing Brian Hard.
Penske “promot[es] a culture and an environment that embraces diversity and inclusion,” which purportedly makes them “stronger, more competitive” than other companies, according to Hard’s statement.
At the end of the day, Penske could have said nothing. Instead, they chose to virtue signal their leftism and alienate current and potential customers by aligning with the left and their disdain for the desires of Americans who voted for deportations. If Penske should have learned anything in the past few years from corporations like Bud Light or Target, it’s that going out of your way to be woke could lead to going broke.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2