Far Right Revives Its Favorite Idiotic Conspiracy for Microsoft Outage
The far right is blaming DEI for the global IT outage, because it has no new material.
![A screen displays an announcement on possible travel delays due to a global IT outage](http://images.newrepublic.com/ea3c7031001c07188f3b4097b6e4d04cdbf141be.jpeg?auto=format&fit=crop&crop=faces&q=65&w=768&h=undefined&ar=3%3A2&ixlib=react-9.0.2&w=768)
The CrowdStrike-Microsoft outage has left countless disruptions across the world, including the cancellation of more than 2,500 U.S. flights, issues with 911 systems and government agencies, and countless headaches for IT workers.
Naturally, the right wing is blaming corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, better known as DEI.
Early Friday morning, Twitter CEO Elon Musk found an old CrowdStrike post from 2022 highlighting diversity with a picture of a woman wearing a hijab and took a shot at DEI.
![Twitter screenshot CrowdStrike @CrowdStrike: We were proud to be a Gold Partner of @brightnetwork 's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Panel. Our team shared their career journeys and tips on how we are creating an equitable and inclusive workplace for all. #WeAreCrowdStrike with a photo of a woman wearing hijab](http://images.newrepublic.com/0a3811db42909f707826fc91f697ebfe9fba3b06.png?w=1074)
![Twitter screenshot Elon Musk @elonmusk: Not very “bright” right now, is it? 6:55 AM · Jul 19, 2024 · 148.4K Views](http://images.newrepublic.com/5935cfd40fb7a0029f7919fd135fb76b560a3f10.png?w=1184)
Steve Guest, a former staffer for Senator Ted Cruz, looked up the company’s statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion and blamed the company for grounding flights.
![Twitter screenshot Steve Guest @SteveGuest: Equity is nobody in the world being able to get on an airplane simultaneously. Thanks CrowdStrike. With a photo screenshot of a CrowdStrike statement on DEI](http://images.newrepublic.com/96e2dcde7675150843388b47e31f20d6ff2d851a.png?w=1178)
Conservative pundit Steven Crowder attacked one of the company’s posts about Pride Month from June.
![Twitter screenshot Steven Crowder @scrowder: Wonder if DEI had anything to do with this morning's chaos With a screenshot from a Crowdstrike tweet from June 1: We celebrate 🏳️🌈 Pride Month 🏳️🌈 and the incredible LGBTQ+ community that enriches our lives, our work and our mission. @CrowdStrike is committed to fostering a workplace that is inclusive, respectful, and celebrates diversity. We proudly stop breaches, together.](http://images.newrepublic.com/2f5c59534bdf2f5072d52845106f30d9288f38e8.png?w=1190)
Right-wing election fraud conspiracist and pardoned felon Dinesh D’Souza also took aim at the company’s statement.
![Twitter screenshot Dinesh D'Souza @DineshDSouza: “Diversity is our greatest strength” with a screenshot of a Crowdstrike statement: "Crowdstrike's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion"](http://images.newrepublic.com/14d294b4505bb87ba27e0617e03f775a166a0aab.png?w=1180)
And the right’s point man on tearing down America’s education system, Christopher Rufo, similarly saw something nefarious in the company’s DEI efforts.
![Twitter screenshot Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️@realchrisrufo Went all-in on DEI. Massive internet outage. I'm not assigning causation in this particular instance, but it is an iron law of institutions that DEI leads directly to incompetence, corruption, discrimination, and fraud. Quote tweet of Crowdstrike March 22, 22022: We were proud to be a Gold Partner of @brightnetwork 's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Panel. Our team shared their career journeys and tips on how we are creating an equitable and inclusive workplace for all. #WeAreCrowdStrike](http://images.newrepublic.com/a34afb23b612dd809eaa9c22038f7ce9fe6e083f.png?w=1172)
American conservatives blame everything on DEI these days, whether it’s the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, the rise in train derailments, or even Republican election losses. To them, every negative event somehow is because there are minorities, women, and queer people having jobs.
However, while the right might see all of the damning evidence on display, is CrowdStrike really committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion? The makeup of its board of directors suggests that it only goes so far.
![Twitter screenshot ProLib 🇺🇦 @prolibshow: Yeah, look at all the DEI on the Crowdstrike board of directors (with a picture of the Board of Directors, all but one is white)](http://images.newrepublic.com/4f33bcc84bbb1e0a7ad6f9ed414f698497f41047.png?w=784)