Donald Trump consistently shows his pettiness and narcissism, blatantly corrupting his position by supporting businesses who flatter him and attacking those who criticize. With a man in power like that, it’s easy for those with weak principles to view kissing his ass as a good short-term financial decision.
But as the CEO of Goya Foods learned this week, it’s not just history that will judge this kind of bootlicking.
On Thursday Robert Unanue visited the White House to act as a Latino prop as the Trump administration unveiled its Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, a new program under the Department of Education intended to “improve access to educational and economic opportunities for Hispanic Americans.” In other words, a gesture to try to grab some of those Latino votes in November after years of referring to Mexicans as rapists, ignoring Puerto Rico’s suffering, and treating immigrants worse than animals.
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The Goya CEO may have oversold the part a little bit, saying:
“We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder, and that’s what my grandfather did.”
We hope your grandfather didn’t build anything for Trump, in which case he’s probably still waiting to get paid. Also, the thing this POTUS has been talking about building for the past four years is a freakin’ wall to physically keep out Mexicans. THAT is what you choose to praise?
Well, clearly those words did not go unheard. Several celebrities, including many prominent Latino voices, made it clear they were not happy with Unanue’s puckering, and #BoycottGoya started to trend within hours.
Outspoken Twitter queen and well-known foodie Chrissy Teigen said of the brand:
“F********K. A shame. Don’t care how good the beans taste though. Bye bye.”
A shame indeed as Goya Foods, which was founded by Unanue’s Spanish immigrant grandparents in 1936, was voted the #2 most loved food brand last year, according to the Engagement Labs’ TotalSocial brand awards.
Chrissy continued:
The next step republicans will do (mark my words, they did this with my equinox tweets as well) is say you aren’t supporting the workers if you boycott. You ARE. They should never feel they have to work for someone who agrees Mexicans are “vile” “rapists” – F**K this guy
Support the workers by empowering them to be stronger than this absolute bastard. I will personally do what I can to financially ensure these farms can carry on without them.
Others supported the move as well.
Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote:
“We learned to bake bread in this pandemic, we can learn to make our own adobo con pimienta. Bye.”
Chef Jose Andres wrote:
“Let’s be clear @GoyaFoods President Trump has left Latinos and many Americans hungry. Cages Latino Children. Has forgotten the Latino community through this pandemic. Has called Mexicans rapist. We are blessed? I think Latinos we are being mistreated…..”
Social media savvy Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quipped:
“Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo'”
Former Presidential candidate Julian Castro wrote:
“.@GoyaFoods has been a staple of so many Latino households for generations. Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway”
Occasional The View co-host Ana Navarro-Cárdenas cautioned against throwing away the food you already have in your pantry, saying instead:
“We’re all free to do w/our frijoles as we wish, but if you’re gonna #boycottgoya, pls don’t throw products in the trash. Donate the products to a food bank. And if you choose, u can replace your adobo with @badiaspices, Conchita, Iberia, Diana….many alternatives in the market.”
In an interview on Fox News Friday morning, Unanue called the boycott calls “suppression of speech” and declared he was “not apologizing.” Obviously there has been a push by pro-Trumpers to support Goya Foods in response — though that does require a lot of racists to appreciate other cultures for a minute, so they may be torn.
Vote with your dollars, y’all!
[Image via WENN/Avalon/Instar.]
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