No, Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison Didn't Tell Conservatives To Shop at Home Depot (2024)

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A rumor circulating online in late August 2024 claimed the business news TV channel CNBC reported that Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison said, "If conservatives do not like our values, they should take their money to Home Depot."

If such a quote were real, it might be expected to send shockwaves through the American political landscape ahead of the November 2024 U.S. elections, especially considering the fact some co-founders of the Home Depot showed past support of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the current Republican candidate for president.

For example, on Aug. 23, X user @SuzyLiberty2 posted (archived), "Lowe's went and got woke." The post received over 500,000 views and featured a screenshot that purportedly showed CNBC aired the quote on its TV channel in the form of an image graphic.

However, the truth is that no record exists of Ellison ever saying these words. The official Lowe's account on X replied to numerous angry users with a statement addressing the fake graphic and quote. The company's reply read, "This statement is false. Lowe's CEO did not make this comment. Everyone is welcome at Lowe's."

Lowe's director of external communications Steve Salazar also pointed us to the same company statement on X after we reached out by email for further comment.

@SuzyLiberty2, one of the users who shared the fake quote, later replied (archived), "It turned out to be false never mind."

Some users asked in replies why @SuzyLiberty2 had not yet deleted their original post.

We contacted @SuzyLiberty2 via a direct message on X to ask if she created the fake graphic or if she remembered where she first viewed it and will update this story if we receive a response.

Ellison's Genuine Quotes 1st Aired on CNBC

An unknown user created the meme by altering a genuine graphic from an Aug. 20 CNBC broadcast in which the news channel quoted Ellison talking not about conservatives and the Home Depot, but rather Lowe's financial outlook. Readers can watch video of the real CNBC TV segment on CNBC.com, the Internet Archive or YouTube.

During the genuine segment, two graphics showed Ellison's authentic thoughts aired by CNBC:

In the first real graphic, Ellison talked about inflation and interest rates. (CNBC.com)

The second authentic graphic mentioned consumer sentiment. (CNBC.com)

Other Posts Featuring the Fake Quote

Another user whose post received a high amount of views was @SaltyGoat17, who wrote of the fake quote in the graphic, "Your terms are acceptable!! Who else plans to NEVER walk into a Lowe's again?!?" That post and others later received a "manipulated media" label from the social media platform as well as community notes, including one that directed users to a fact-check article from Fact Crescendo.

We advise readers against placing blind trust in quotes displayed online.

Further posts from misinformed users who promoted the doctored CNBC graphic and fake Ellison quote appeared on Facebook, TikTok and Truth Social.

For example, one Facebook user (archived) linked to a TikTok video (archived) that displayed the false rumor. The Facebook user said, "So we're gonna use politics to completely put Lowe's out of business. Good job CEO."

Another Facebook user who also wrongly believed the fake Ellison quote and promoted the altered CNBC graphic wrote (archived), "As per Lowe's CEO… conservatives take your business to Home Depot." Additionally, they added a vulgar remark directed at Lowe's.

Meanwhile, in a Truth Social post (archived), a user shared a post from X displaying the fake Ellison quote and added, "Stop shopping at Lowe's."

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