White House advisor Ivanka Trump has posted a bizarre photo holding a can of Goya beans. The product has become a political lightning rod of late, following comments from CEO Robert Unanue praising President Donald Trump, and father to Ivanka.
At a press conference on Thursday, Unanue said that the U.S. was “truly blessed… to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder.” He went on to say that Trump “came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper.” He added that the country has “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.” Unanue’s remarks sparked calls for a boycott of the food products, which has been snowballing since.
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If it’s Goya, it has to be good.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 15, 2020
Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno. pic.twitter.com/9tjVrfmo9z
Naturally, the tweet only fueled the already partisan divide over Goya food products following Unanue’s remarks. Supporters cheered on the tweet, with some showing off shopping baskets full of Goya products. Opponents of Trump and his larger administration largely pointed out the ethical gray area of a White House advisor offering free advertising for a private company.
Even Texas Senator (and wrestling fan) Ted Cruz weighed into the fray. Cruz quote-tweeted actor James Woods, who called the potential boycott a “suppression of free speech” brought about by “liberal terrorism.” The Senator, echoing Woods’ remarks, wrote that the boycott is an attempt to “cancel Hispanic culture.”
Unanue visited the White House along with a number of other Hispanic Trump supporters on Thursday as the president signed an expansion of the “Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.” The executive order is meant to “improve access by Hispanic Americans to educational and economic opportunities.”
The Goya photo is just the latest turmoil that the First Daughter has found herself in due to her social media presence. Back in June, she earned the nickname “Nepotism Barbie” after she revealed her father’s executive order that revamps the federal hiring process. Over the Fourth of July weekend, she uploaded a seven-second clip of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. The baffling optics of the post aside, the most intense reactions came from those who claimed the cowboy was treating the horse in the video cruelly. Naturally, this led to widespread accusations of animal cruelty.
