Who Is Julie Jenkins Fancelli? Publix Heiress’ Link To Trump Sparks Boycott

Publix customers are calling for a boycott of the grocery chain on social media after one of the founder's heirs donated nearly $1 million to support former President Donald Trump.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Publix heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the daughter of the supermarket’s founder George Jenkins, has donated more than $980,000 to Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign and the Republican Party.

The most recent donation was $300,000 for the Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally, which was held just before the deadly Capitol riots. Trump urged attendees to march to the Capitol and "fight like hell."

Far-right radio host and outspoken conspiracy theorist Alex Jones facilitated Fancelli’s donation, the WSJ said. The rally was said to have had a total cost of about $500,000 of which Fancelli was the major donor, USA Today reported.

The rally was said to have incited the riots on the Capitol that resulted in five deaths and a lockdown of Congress members. The incident led to the second impeachment of Trump, who was acquitted of all charges Saturday.

Customers of Publix were outraged by the donation from Fancelli, calling for a boycott of the grocery store on Twitter. Users of the site posted comments that claimed that Publix funded “domestic terrorism.” Others said they “won’t shop Publix again” and suggested “shopping at grocery stores that DON’T fund insurrections.”

Publix responded to the backlash in a tweet that read, “Mrs. Fancelli is not an employee of Publix Super Markets, and is neither involved in our business operations, nor does she represent the company in any way. We cannot comment on Mrs. Fancelli's actions."

Publix continued by saying that the violence at the Capital was a “national tragedy” that does not represent the “values, work or opinions” of the company.”

But not everyone on social media was caving to the pressure to boycott Publix as many fans of the supermarket showed their support of the company on Twitter.

Several customers posted that they “love the publix subs” and they “could never” boycott the chain.

And others were happy about the boycott because the sub line would be shorter.

Publix has about 1,200 stores located throughout Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.