Trump calls for tyre boycott over MAGA hat row
20 August 2020, 07:42
President Trump has called people to boycott tyre brand Goodyear, claiming the company had "announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS".
The US President took to Twitter to call on his supporters to avoid using the Ohio based company and instead go elsewhere.
Mr Trump's tweet immediately sent the company's stock downward, closing down about 2.4% for the day.
"Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!)," Mr Trump tweeted.
Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2020
But the company, based in Ohio, simply asked employees to refrain from workplace expressions involving political campaigns and "forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues".
Make America Great Again, or MAGA, is a slogan of the Trump campaign.
Yesterday, Goodyear became the focus of a conversation that created some misconceptions about our policies and our company. Goodyear has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so. pic.twitter.com/oO6jUg2rTR
— Goodyear (@goodyear) August 19, 2020
His tweet followed a report from WIBW television station in Topeka, Kansas, based on an anonymous Goodyear employee's screenshot.
The screenshot listed Black Lives Matter and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride messages as acceptable while politically affiliated slogans and material, including "MAGA Attire" and "Blue Lives Matter", in support of police, were listed as unacceptable.
The screenshot was described in the report as part of the company's diversity training.
Goodyear responded to Mr Trump with a tweet of its own, saying the company was the focus of a conversation that "created some misconceptions about our policies and our company. Goodyear has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so".
The company said the material captured in the screenshot was not created or distributed by the company's corporate offices or part of a diversity training class.
It also stressed that it does ask its workers to "refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues".