"I'm sorry that's happening to you. Best of luck."

Senator @TomCottonAR blasts woke Kroger CEO for expecting Republicans to come to their defense. pic.twitter.com/L9j82kDraA

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 6, 2022

Some background here:

Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, did not ask questions about the implications of the merger for food prices and instead took issue with the uniform that Kroger employees wear, which is an apron.

He cited a religious discrimination lawsuit that Kroger recently settled in late October, in which the store paid $180,000 to employees who were fired months after they were given new apron uniforms displaying a heart patch with rainbow colors.

The former employees interpreted the aprons as supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, and said the aprons violated their religious beliefs.

“If this merger goes through, who’s going to be making decisions about uniforms?” Cotton asked.

McMullen said that uniforms are put together by an associate resource group that designs them.

“The heart is a symbol of our fundamental purpose … to be in community spirit,” McMullen said about the patch. “And part of being the human spirit is the heart and that heart is our fundamental strategy to support our purpose. The colors were not tied to any specific thing.”