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President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka shared support for Goya Foods on social media.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, and his daughter and adviser Ivanka have been criticized for endorsing a Hispanic food company on social media.
The couple shared images of themselves with Goya Foods products earlier this week, and the president said he was “GREAT.”
It comes after Goya’s boss voiced support for Trump, prompting calls to boycott the company.
The Trump actions have raised concerns about ethics violations.
In a tweet Tuesday, the president’s daughter posted a photo of her holding a can of Goya black beans with the company’s motto: “If it’s Goya, it has to be good,” in English and Spanish.
Later, the Republican President tweeted, without citing evidence, that “Goya Foods is doing BIG. The Left Radical smear machine failed, people are buying like crazy!” An image of him posing with various Goya products was also shared on his Instagram account.
As a U.S. government employee, Ms. Trump’s comments may violate ethical rules that prohibit the use of public office to endorse products or reinforce personal business interests.
Walter Shaub, a former director of the United States Government Ethics Office (OGE), wrote in a series of tweets that Trump’s tweet was “clearly a violation of the government’s misuse of position regulation.”
“There is a particularly unseemly aspect to this violation: it creates the appearance that government support is for sale,” he added. “It will support the president, and the administration will support his product.”
Shaub resigned from his post in 2017 due to repeated clashes with the president.
Social media posts have also caused ridicule, with California Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat, tweeting, “This is the President of the United States, who sells canned goods in the [White House]”
CNN journalist Chris Cuomo, brother of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, criticized President Trump during a television appearance.
“Can you tell me how a president, in the middle of a pandemic, has time for this …?” Mr. Cuomo asked. “Are you kidding me?”
However, the White House defended Ms. Trump’s tweet, saying she had “every right to express her personal support.”
“Only the media and the culture-canceling movement will 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 the Hispanic community.” director Carolina Hurley.
The OGE has not made public comments on the publications on social networks
Last week, Robert Unanue, Goya’s chief executive, appeared with President Trump at the White House during the government’s announcement of a new ‘Hispanic Prosperity Initiative’.
“We are all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder, and that is what my grandfather did,” said Mr. Unanue.
The hashtags #Goyaway and #BoycottGoya were later trending on Twitter, and critics cited Trump’s derogatory earlier comments about Hispanics. During his 2016 presidential campaign, he called Mexicans “rapists,” and reportedly called El Salvador a “shit country” at a White House meeting in 2018.
Since then it has become a heated political issue, with Democratic politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supporting the boycott.
In response, a man in the U.S. state of Virginia organized a crowdfunding campaign to buy Goya products and donate them to food pantries in the capital, Washington, DC. In four days, he has raised more than $ 280,000 (£ 222,605).
“The liberal mob comes for anyone who disagrees,” wrote campaign founder Casey Harper. “What if we get up to cancel the culture and feed the hungry at the same time?”
