Goodyear Employees to Hold Rally Following Donald Trump’s Call to Boycott Tire Company

Goodyear employees and local representatives will show their support for the tiremaker Thursday after President Donald Trump called for a nationwide boycott of the company earlier this week. Just a day after the president responded to an image circulating around social media alleging that Goodyear has a “zero tolerance” policy regarding political attire, including MAGA attire, employees are set to hold a Rally for Good Jobs.

The rally is set to take place at 11 a.m. local time in Akron, Ohio, where Goodyear tires was founded in 1898. Employees will be joined by labor union workers and Reps. Tavia Galonski, Emilia Sykes, and Tim Ryan, who announced the rally in a release, according to WLWT 5. Speaking with The Daily Beast shortly after the president, in a tweet Wednesday afternoon, encouraged the boycott, Ryan said he was “a little bit shocked at the level of stupidity” on the part of the president.

“This is an iconic American company in a swing state… it’s really, really dumb politically. But it shows the problem that he has — that it’s more about him than it is about other people,” Ryan said. “He’s directly saying he wants to put you out of a job.”

Ryan is just one of many speaking out in support of Goodyear following the president’s controversial remarks amid a time when millions of Americans are already without a job due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a tweet, the City of Akron voiced their support, writing, “Goodyear has believed in this community for generations, investing in the power, tenacity and honest people of the heartland, which is more than we can say for this president. [We Stand With Goodyear].” Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown called the president’s call for a boycott “despicable,” noting that Goodyear is an “American company, based in Akron, that employs thousands of U.S. workers.”

Trump seemed to mostly take issue with the fact that, according to the image, MAGA attire was among the attire listed as “unacceptable.” Other “unacceptable” items included “Blue Lives Matter,” “All Lives Matter,” and “Political Affiliated Slogans or Material.” “Black Lives Matter” and LGBTQ+ pride attire was considered “acceptable.” When referencing the latter two forms of attire later Wednesday afternoon, Trump, who claimed that he is considering replacing the Goodyear tires on the presidential car with a different brand, condemned Goodyear for allowing “other things that are Marxist in nature.”

Goodyear, in a statement issued following the president’s tweet, said the image was not distributed by its corporate office, nor was it part of a diversity training class. The company added that it “has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so.”