Goya Censures CEO Who Said: 'There Is a War Coming'

Robert Unanue has backed Trump's claims about the election
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2021 3:45 AM CST
Goya CEO Censured After Calling Biden's Win Unverified
President Trump listens as Robert Unanue of Goya Foods speaks at the White House last July.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Robert Unanue, the chief executive of Goya, will no longer be allowed to speak to the news media without the approval of the company's board of directors. On Friday, the board voted to censure Unanue, CNN reports, after repeated comments supporting President Trump's unproven claims of election fraud. On Inauguration Day, per NBC News, Unanue called President Biden's electoral victory "unverified." He went on in the Fox Business interview to say: "I think this is mission accomplished, by the union, the partnership, the conglomerate of social media, big tech, big media, and big government for ushering in the dawn of a new world order. There is a war coming, now that the president is leaving today, they're still coming after the United States, the working class." Asked about the board's decision by the New York Post, Unanue declined to comment directly but said, "Independently, I’ve made the decision to lower the temperature and walk away from speaking about politics and religion."

Before the vote, a board member said: "Bob does not speak for Goya Foods when he speaks on TV. The family has diverse views on politics, but politics is not part of our business." A source told CNN that most of the family-controlled company's shareholders want to remove Unanue but have been unable to. Other directors have been especially unhappy with him since July, when he said the nation was "truly blessed" to have Trump as president. The Latino-owned company then experienced a backlash from politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Julian Castro, once an Obama Cabinet member. Many members of Goya's board also are unhappy with the company's performance under Unanue, per CNN. (Ivanka Trump's intervention may have been ethically iffy.)

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