Costco pulls D'Souza's book. Denies politics involved
Costco, the nation's second largest retailer, pulled Dinesh D'Souza's "America" from its shelves this week but denied that politics had anything to do with it.
Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal has been a strong supporter of President Obama, speaking at the 2012 Democratic National Covention and getting Costco's PAC to donate $100,000 to Obama's re-election.
Company CFO Rich Galanti cited poor sales as the reason for the decision to pull the book. The #1 Amazon best seller in politics was set to debut next week on the New York Times bestseller list at #17.
The book, heavily critical of Barack Obama, was officially released June 2. A corporate decision to return the books was issued July 1, just as it is about to debut on the New York Times bestseller list.
Galanti confirmed to WND the “pull order” was in effect and that D’Souza’s book is in the process of being removed from Costco stores this week, with the goal to have all copies of D’Souza’s book out of Costco stores nationwide and shipped back to the vendor no later than July 15.
He said the decision to pull D’Souza’s book was not political but was based solely on sales, arguing Costco’s national goal is to market books that show up on the New York Times bestseller list.
The book will make the New York Times list July 13.
Galanti could not explain why Costco book buyer Pennie Clark Ianniciello decided to pull the book just as D’Souza’s movie was being released and the national marketing campaign on the book and movie switched into high gear.
The movie “America,” which has been given a rare “A” CinemaScore by audiences, opened in 1,105 theaters nationwide to roughly $4 million over the five-day July 4 holiday weekend.
WND first reported Monday that the retail giant had issued the unusual pull order for a new book that is rising on the bestsellers lists. It is currently ranked No. 1 at Amazon.
The book, in this midterm election year, is a strong rebuttal of the progressive ideology behind President Obama’s policies, which have been supported by Costco co-founder and director Jim Sinegal, a major Democrat donor and a speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention that nominated the president. A Washington Post political reporter has noted Obama’s “romance” with the nation’s second-largest retailer.
You'd think Costco could learn to lie a little better than this. They're a great big corporation and the best they can do is try and make us believe that a book whose sales are poised to take off thanks to the release of a companion movie is going to lose them money.
How many copies of Hillary's book have they sold? Never mind.