'Go get 'em Sydney' - Trump praises actress Sydney Sweeney's new American Eagle advert
US President Donald Trump has praised actress Sydney Sweeney for her role in a new American Eagle advert that highlights her 'great jeans'.
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The advert is facing backlash after it sparked debate regarding race through its use of language that includes a play on words, which critics say could promote the discredited eugenics theory, when paired with her blonde hair and blue eyes.
Sweeney can be heard saying in the video: "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue."
While some online critics argue the advert is potentially embracing the language of eugenics, the response from others is that they're looking into it too much.
Liberal news outlet Salon said the campaign appeared to be a "tone-deaf marketing move", while Rachel Tashjian, a fashion writer for The Washington Post, claimed the advert was "regressive".
The latter added: "It is strange to see a brand like American Eagle go in this direction. Should teenagers be served a vision of sexuality and fashion that feels so regressive?"
Read more: Sydney Sweeney's jeans advert sparks fierce criticism for being 'regressive' and 'tone-deaf'
Read more: Is Sydney Sweeney's 'bathwater-soap' a setback for feminism?
Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate 'registered Republican' Sweeney and the advert while decrying 'woke' companies that he claims have been 'destroyed'.
He wrote: "Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the 'hottest' ad out there. It's for American Eagle and the jeans are 'flying off the shelves'.
"Go get 'em Sydney!
"Being woke is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be."
He also took a swipe at Taylor Swift in the same post, saying she was booed out of the Super Bowl and is 'no longer' attractive after he "alerted the world to what she was saying."
Stocks in American Eagle Outfitters jumped by 23.3 per cent after Trump made the comments online.
American Eagle Outfitters said in a statement on Friday that the advert "is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone."
