President Trump, Ivanka Show Support For Goya During Boycott

President Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to voice his support for Goya Foods amidst calls to boycott the company. The Latino food product company became the subject of controversy when CEO Robert Unanue appeared on a Hispanic prosperity panel at the White House and praised Trump, prompting #BoycottGoya and #Goyaway to trend on social media.

“Goya Foods is doing GREAT,” Trump tweeted. “The Radical Left smear machine backfired, people are buying like crazy!”

The first daughter, Ivanka Trump, followed that with her own tweet in support of the company.

“If it’s Goya, it has to be good,” she tweeted, first in English, then in Spanish. She also attached a photo of herself holding a can of Goya black beans.

Unanue drew backlash at the meeting for saying that the U.S. is “truly blessed” to have President Trump and that he is a “builder.” These comments did not sit well with Goya’s Hispanic and left-leaning customers, who perceive Trump as consistently hostile towards Hispanic and Latino communities.

During the 2016 election, Trump infamously called Mexican people “rapists” and “drug dealers” while proposing a plan to build a wall along the southern border.

When asked by Reuters if Trump and his daughter’s comments constitute a violation of policies that forbid those in elected office from endorsing products, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics did not immediately respond.

“We can’t have people who work in administrations holding up products and promoting them,” Fox News pundit Jedediah Bila said of Ivanka Trump’s tweet. “It’s unethical.”

The boycott calls and hashtags were spurred by support from politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, as well as a number of celebrities. The controversy also sparked a #BuyGoya pushback from Trump supporters, with the likes of Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, urging supporters to buy their products.