Trump Escalates Goya 'Food Fight'

He poses with products as critics call for a boycott
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 16, 2020 12:04 PM CDT
Trump Escalates Goya 'Food Fight'
Displays of Goya Foods products in Jersey City, N.J.   (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

Last week, the CEO of Goya Foods publicly praised President Trump. That led to calls for people, especially Latinos, to boycott Goya's beans and other products, and videos on social media of people dumping their Goya goods. The Trump camp is pushing back, however, and, as Marc Caputo of Politico sums up, "The culture war is officially a food fight." Coverage:

  • Trump: On Wednesday, Trump posted an image on Instagram of himself at his Oval Office desk, giving the thumbs-up to several Goya products in front of him. Ivanka Trump previously posted a similar image. The president also tweeted that Goya "is doing GREAT. The Radical Left smear machine backfired, people are buying like crazy!"

  • Late night: The hosts of late night are weighing in, and not in Trump's favor. "I mean, I'm glad the president is using his desk for probably the first time in months, but come on guys—you've got to admit, this is pretty embarrassing," Trevor Noah said on the Daily Show, per Mashable. "The dude doesn't look like a president, he looks like a local athlete who retired 15 years ago and is desperate for money." On the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon joked that Trump got it wrong: "Americans are like, 'We're buying canned food like crazy because we're living in the apocalypse!," per Rolling Stone.
  • Cuomo's rant: CNN's Chris Cuomo was particularly riled up Wednesday night, notes TVLine. "You tell me how a president, in the middle of a pandemic, has got time for this bull----. Are you kidding me? Hawking products?" Fellow CNN host Anderson Cooper called the image "grotesque," adding: "137,000 Americans dead, and this is our self-proclaimed wartime president's answer to it."
  • Counterpoint: Ivanka, in particular, took much flak for her post, prompting White House spokeswoman Carolina Hurley to say: "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." Critics say Ivanka violated ethics rules that prohibit government officials from endorsing products, notes the AP, but White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says no repercussions are likely.
  • The politics: Trump's camp hopes the controversy, and the call for a boycott, will persuade Hispanic voters that Democrats are "too radical" and have over-reached, writes Politico's Caputo. The theme is seen in a tweet from the campaign's Latino Twitter account: "Not even croquetas would be safe in Joe Biden's America. Pass it on."
(More President Trump stories.)

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