Donald Trump Jr boasts of 'awesome' Goya dinner as GoFundMe in support of brand raises $300K amid boycott
President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, took to Instagram on Thursday, July 16, to boast about his dinner cooked with Goya ingredients. Trump Jr's move came as a row over the company's boycott intensified with his sister, Ivanka Trump, and the president himself being accused of violating White House ethics by promoting the company's products. Social media users, last week, called on people to boycott Goya products after its CEO, Robert Unanue, said that the United States was "blessed" to have Trump as its leader.
Trump Jr, in his Instagram post on Thursday, said that he had enjoyed a meal made with the Goya produce. "Just had a great dinner Kimberly prepared," he said in a video, referring to his girlfriend, former Fox News presenter Kimberly Guilfoyle. "Lot of Goya products, which was pretty awesome. Just had a great pork roast. It was very good."
Trump Jr's video came as his father and sister faced heavy backlash for sharing pictures of themselves holding Goya Foods products earlier this week. President Trump, who had a variety of Goya products arranged on the Resolute Desk, said that the company was "doing GREAT." While the president's daughter, White House counselor Ivanka, in a tweet on Tuesday, July 14, posted a picture of herself holding a can of Goya black beans with the company's slogan - "If it's Goya, it has to be good." She wrote the slogan in English and Spanish.
Government officials in the United States are prohibited from using their public office to endorse specific products or groups. After Trumps' tweets raised ethics concern, the White House defended them. Reports state that Trump, however, as president, is exempt from the several rules that federal workers like Ivanka must follow.
White House spokesperson, Carolina Hurley, in a statement, said: "Only the media and the cancel culture movement would 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 and delivered for the Hispanic community. Ivanka is proud of this strong, Hispanic-owned business with deep roots in the US and has every right to express her personal support."
The former director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, in a statement, said that the tweet and photo amounted to "an official campaign by the Trump administration to support Goya, making it all the more clear that Ivanka's tweet was a violation of the misuse of position regulations." Shaub had reportedly left the government in 2017 after clashing with the Trump administration over ethics rules.
Executive Director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), Noah Bookbinder, also issued a statement on the issue, saying that the rules are clear. "The ethics rules for executive branch employees say that you can't use your official position to promote a private business," she said. "It's pretty clear that the context in which this came out is that Goya had been supportive of the Trump administration and the Trump administration was being supportive of Goya."
Trump supporters, in response to the boycott of Goya products, have started a "Buy-cott" where they film empty shelves, cleared of all Goya products, in an effort to support the company. Multiple GoFundMe pages have also been launched in support of the company by Trump supporters. One of the pages, started by Casey Harper in Arlington, Virginia, has already raised nearly $300,000 to buy Goya products. The products bought with the money will reportedly be sent to food banks.