Goya Foods president reacts to backlash over praising Trump
Goya Foods President and CEO Bob Unanue calls the criticism hypocritical since he also appeared with President Obama at the White House.
"The View" co-host Meghan McCain argued on Twitter Friday that it was "weird & callous" to attempt a boycott of Goya Foods over its CEO's praise of Trump at a White House event.
McCain pointed out that New Jersey-based Goya "supplies food to the masses and employs 4,000 people during a pandemic.
"No matter what your politics, who wants more people out of work?" she went on. "Almost every CEO, boss, & person I interact with and consume products from disagrees with me."
The backlash began after Goya CEO Bob Unanue said Thursday that "we're all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder."
Model Chrissy Teigen and actor John Leguizamo are among the high-profile figures supporting a boycott, with Teigen vowing she would do what she could to financially support farms affected by the potential halt in consumption.
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"Support the workers by empowering them to be stronger than this absolute bastard," she said, referring to Unanue. "I will personally do what I can to financially ensure these farms can carry on without them."
Teigen also pushed back on the idea that a boycott would harm Goya workers.
"The next step republicans will do (mark my words, they did this with my equinox tweets as well) is say you aren’t supporting the workers if you boycott," Teigen tweeted.
"You ARE. They should never feel they have to work for someone who agrees Mexicans are 'vile' 'rapists,'" a reference to remarks by Trump at the very start of his presidential campaign in 2015.
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Unanue did not back down from his words during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" Friday, noting that he was previously invited to the White House for an event hosted by the Obama administration for Hispanic Heritage Month.
"So, you’re allowed to talk good or to praise one president, but you’re not allowed to aid in economic and educational prosperity?" he asked rhetorically. "And you make a positive comment and all of a sudden, it is not acceptable."
Fox News' Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.
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