Wendy’s Donates $500,000 To Social Justice Amid Criticism Over Franchisee's Trump Donations

As Wendy’s (WEN) came under criticism amid reports that a CEO of one of its franchisees had donated to President Trump’s presidential campaign, the fast-food chain has announced that it is pledging $500,000 toward “social justice, the youth and education in the Black community.”

The news of the donation came via Twitter, with Wendy’s posting, “We’re about putting our money where our mouth is. So here’s our money and here’s our mouth. We are committed to donating $500k to support social justice, the youth and education in the Black community starting with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and we’ll have receipts.”

The criticism against Wendy’s came as CEO of Muy!, James Bodenstedt, a franchisee that owns several hundred Wendy’s, Taco Bells, and Pizza Huts, reportedly donated over $440,000 to Trump’s campaign since 2018, Business Insider reported.

Twitter erupted with the hashtag “#WendysIsOverParty” as many users confused the donation of Bodenstedt with that of The Wendy’s Company.

Wendy’s made it clear that the company did not make any donations to the Trump campaign, saying in another tweet, “We never have and will never contribute to a presidential campaign. For the record our CEO has always kept that same energy too. Facts.”

The $500,000 donation from Wendy’s is in light of the recent death of George Floyd.

“Our voice would be nothing without Black culture. Right now, a lot of people are hurting because of blatant racism against Black people. Their voices need to be heard. Period. #BlackLivesMatter,” Wendy’s tweeted.

Shares of Wendy's stock were down 0.05% as of 2:16 p.m. EDT on Thursday.