The way I see it, it doesn’t matter. Nike may be cynically riding the coattails of a movement to sell sneakers but it’s still a valuable barometer of the direction society is heading. The amount of market research big companies do puts political polling to shame so this is a very calculated move and it tells us a lot.
It tells us that the math checks out. Nike has decided either it doesn’t need the money and support of MAGA racists or that they’ll get over it and buy their stuff anyway. It tells us that the squeaky wheels burning shoes are a much smaller cohort than the media lets us believe. It tells us that we’re winning.
Nike didn’t start the movement and their support won’t make or break it but big corporations crunch the numbers and know which way the wind blows. The tide is turning.