WASHINGTON (US) – The latest firm to fall victim to a boycott campaign on social media is Goya Foods Inc, which is the largest Hispanic-owned American food firm. This came in the wake of its CEO showering praise on President Donald Trump at the White House.
Robert Unanue, chief executive officer of the New Jersey-based company which is popular among Latinos, appeared with Trump on Thursday during the inking of an executive order that creates an advisory panel to spur Hispanic prosperity. This led to hashtags #Goyaway and #BoycottGoya trending on Twitter.
“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,” said Unanue, who belongs to the third generation of his family to run the business. “We pray for our leadership, our president, and we pray for our country that we will continue to prosper and to grow.”
The White House event was aimed at boosting Trump’s popularity among members of a key constituency who have often felt alienated by his policies and rhetoric.
According to a poll, only a quarter of registered Hispanic voters chose Trump over Democrat candidate Joe Biden.
Gunning for the boycott of Goya are two prominent Hispanic leaders in the Democratic Party – former presidential candidate Julian Castro and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Castro tweeted that Goya had been a staple of many Latino households for generations.
“Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainises and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain,” he said. “Americans should think twice before buying their produces.”
Ocasio-Cortez told her 7.5 million Twitter followers that they find homemade alternatives to Goya’s popular Adobo seasoning.
United We Dream, a social action group led by immigrant youth, started an online boycott petition that said Unanue had “aligned the Goya brand with Trump’s white supremacist agenda.”
“If Goya wants our business, they must respect and fight for our humanity,” the group said.
“I’m not apologising,” Unanue told Fox News. “When you’re called by the president of the United States, you’re going to say, ‘No, I’m sorry, I’m busy, no thank you?’ I didn’t say that to the Obamas and I didn’t say that to President Trump.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field