<Washington, DC>The Trump Administration has launched a “Black Beans Matter” (“Frijoles Negros Importan”) campaign in support of a Goya Foods whose top executive was criticized last week for supporting President Trump. The campaign is focused on increasing sales of Mexican owned Goya food brands, as well as securing Latino votes for the upcoming election.
Critics of the president have been calling for a boycott of Goya after CEO Robert Unanue stated “We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder” at a White House event. Unanue continued, “”He came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper. And so we have an incredible builder, and we pray for our leadership, our president, and we pray for our country that we will continue to prosper and to grow.””
The president’s daughter, who serves as a formal adviser to the president in the White House, tweeted late Tuesday in both English and Spanish along with a photo of her posing with can of black beans in support of the upcoming campaign.
The president again commented on the controversy Wednesday with the following tweet:
Critics of the president, as well as ethics officials, have criticized the move citing federal ethics law that states, in part, “An employee’s position or title should not be used to coerce; to endorse any product, service or enterprise; or to give the appearance of governmental sanction.” The Trump campaign has notoriously ignored the Hatch Act and this latest incident will likely be no different.
White House communications aide Carolina Hurley defended Ivanka’s tweet by stating: “Only the media and the cancel culture movement would criticize Ivanka for showing her personal support for a company that has been unfairly mocked, boycotted and ridiculed for supporting this administration — one that has consistently fought for and delivered for the Hispanic community,” adding “Ivanka is proud of this strong, Hispanic-owned business with deep roots in the U.S. and has every right to express her personal support.”
The announcement of the Black Beans Matter campaign has led to a fresh round of #BoycottGoya backlash, as well as outrage from supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement. Celebrities from Chrissy Teigen to Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have joined in the boycott and have used their massive platforms to draw attention to the cause.