Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is warning companies about the cost of eliminating their DEI policies amid pressure from the Trump administration.

Abrams, a voting rights advocate known for her bids for Georgia governor in the 2018 and 2022 elections, appeared on a panel last week at New York University, where she addressed the DEI rollbacks at several major companies, Fortune reports. Earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order banning DEI in the federal government, leading many major corporations to follow suit.

The former gubernatorial candidate said acquiescing to Trump's policies is a slippery slope that companies should avoid.

“This notion that simply complying a little bit stops at the water’s edge is antithetical to every history we have ever written, and it costs you,” Abrams said during Friday's (July 11) panel.

"It may not cost you in the short term, but in the long term,” she added.

Abrams also noted the cost of companies aligning with the Trump administration and turning their backs on the customers who fueled their success.

“I’m also less sympathetic to multi-billion dollar corporations that are concerned about losing a few contracts when they’re willing to sacrifice whole communities for that purpose,” she said.

Abrams pointed to Costco's historic growth after the company moved to reaffirm its commitment to DEI, rather than eliminating its policies.

“Costco has always been grounded in this responsibility,” Abrams said. “Therefore, irrespective of the change, they never had to change their policies, they never had to promote who they were. They simply are. And we can see the distinction between Costco and other institutions.”

Abrams' panel appearance comes as she's set to release a new novel called “Coded Justice,” which addresses ethical and legal questions concerning artificial intelligence development.

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