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Trump calls for Goodyear boycott after alleged 'ban on MAGA hats'


Aug. 19
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(UPI) -- President Donald Trump called for a boycott of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. on Monday in response to reports the company banned political garb, including his own campaign merchandise.

"Don't buy GOODYEAR TIRES -- They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS," Trump wrote on Twitter, referencing the red hats emblazoned with his 2016 campaign slogan "Make America Great Again.

During a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon Trump also said he would replace the Goodyear tires on his presidential limo if an alternative was presented.

"I would swap them out based on what I heard," he said. "We'll see what happens."

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Trump's comments came in response to a report by WMTV, an NBC affiliate in Wisconsin, describing an image of an alleged Goodyear diversity training presentation describing what is and is not acceptable under the Ohio-based company's "zero-tolerance policy."

The slide states that messages in support of Black Lives Matter, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender pride are acceptable, while messages in support of Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, "MAGA attire" and political-affiliated slogans or material are unacceptable.

Goodyear released a statement, saying that the image was not created or distributed by the company and is not part of its diversity training class.

"To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination," the company said. "To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates 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."

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a briefing later in the day that Goodyear must still "come out and clarify their policy."

"What was clearly targeted was a certain ideology," she said.

Trump calls for Goodyear boycott after company bans MAGA attire among employees

By MAX COHEN
08/19/2020 11:18 AM EDT
Updated: 08/19/2020 08:24 PM EDT
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The Goodyear attack is the latest in a long line of proposed boycotts from the president.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday promoted a boycott of Goodyear, angrily reacting to a viral company policy that banned employees from wearing “MAGA Attire.”

“Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “(This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!).”

The president appeared to reference an image that a Goodyear employee said was taken during a diversity training slideshow that went viral this week.


According to Kansas television station WIBW, a slide labeled “Zero Tolerance” was presented at the company’s Topeka, Kan., plant and spelled out appropriate and inappropriate displays.

“Black Lives Matter” and “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride” were considered acceptable. Listed under the “unacceptable” section were “Blue Lives Matter,” “All Lives Matter,” “MAGA Attire” and “Political Affiliated Slogans or Material.”

WIBW reported that a worker at the Topeka plant captured the picture and provided it to the news station.

In a statement following Trump’s tweet, Goodyear denied that the slide was created or distributed by their corporate office and claimed it was not part of a diversity training class.

The company did not indicate the image was doctored and stood by the ban on political messaging articulated in the slide.

“To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination,” the statement read. “To enable a workplace environment free of those, we ask that associates 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.”

The statement also established the company’s support for law enforcement and pushed back on claims Goodyear is “anti-police.”

Goodyear’s response was not enough to satisfy the White House. Elaborating on his tweet at a news briefing on Wednesday afternoon, Trump accused the company of “playing politics” and claimed that he polled “very well” with its “great workers.”

“When they say that you can’t have Blue Lives Matter, you can’t show a blue line, you can’t wear a MAGA hat, but you can have other things that are Marxist in nature, there’s something wrong with the top of Goodyear,” Trump said.

After a reporter noted that the presidential limousine, known as “The Beast,” rides on Goodyear tires, Trump said he would be willing to “swap them out” for another brand.

“Look, you’re going to have a lot of people not wanting to buy that product anymore,” he said. “And they’ll buy it from a competitor. Made in the U.S.A., too.”

The president also appeared to suggest that Goodyear employees who potentially lose their jobs as a result of his call for a boycott would be able to find work elsewhere because of his administration’s economic policies.

“I would be very much in favor of people [who] don’t want to buy there. And you know what, they’ll be able to get a good job,” Trump said, adding: “You’ll be able to get another good job. I think it’s disgraceful that they did this.”

At a separate news briefing Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany accused Goodyear of targeting conservatives and said the company needed to “clarify their policy.”

“They came out and said equity issues,” McEnany said. “I will stand at this podium and say Blue Lives Matter is an equity issue, and Goodyear needs to come out and acknowledge that.”

Trump’s call for a boycott was aimed at his supporters, McEnany said. She did not specify if the boycott would affect government vehicles.

Goodyear is headquartered in Ohio, a 2020 swing state, and employs roughly 63,000 people.

The president’s tweet drew the ire of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who accused Trump of letting down American workers.

“It’s absolutely despicable that the President would call for a boycott of an American company, based in Akron, that employs thousands of U.S. workers,” Brown wrote on Twitter. “He failed to stand up for workers in Lordstown, and now he betrays the workers in Akron.”

Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, also weighed in on the controversy, saying in a statement that Goodyear’s “workers and their jobs aren't a source of pride” for Trump, but merely “collateral damage in yet another one of his political attacks.”

“President Trump doesn’t have a clue about the dignity and worth that comes with good-paying union jobs at places like Goodyear — jobs that can support a family and sustain a community,” Biden said.

The former vice president also scolded Trump for “taking his eyes off the ball” and “getting distracted by petty political grievances” amid the coronavirus pandemic, “instead of doing his job and stopping the virus.”

Trump’s Goodyear attack is the latest in a long line of proposed boycotts from the president. Since 2015, Trump has called on boycotts of numerous prominent companies, ranging from Apple to CNN.

Liberal boycotts of companies with conservative ties have frequently irked Trump. The Trump campaign played up their support for Goya last month, after the food company drew heat from the left after the CEO praised Trump at a White House event.

In July 2019, Trump used similar rhetoric when defending his friend and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.

“More and more the Radical Left is using Commerce to hurt their ‘Enemy.’ They put out the name of a store, brand or company, and ask their so-called followers not to do business there,” Trump wrote on Twitter at the time. “They don’t care who gets hurt, but also don’t understand that two can play that game!”

Quint Forgey contributed to this report.

Who would have guessed orange skin was so thin?

Time to put some Goodyear’s on the M6!!

I’d burn some Goodyear’s... if I could put them around trump first.

So.........we are now telling people who they can support or not support. The left wants to turn us into a nation of communism.

Vote them out!

I love that the side who calls Trump a fascist wants to be able to force people via threat of their jobs who they can and cannot support. That the narrative is even about the boycott call and not corporations enforcing their political affiliations on their workers is all you need to know. Like what in the holy hell.

Huh?

The President is the one telling people to not support an American company.

That is so sad. I just wish President Trump wouldn't use his twitter.

Private companies have shown their political leanings since - forever. That's 100% up to them.

The President of the most powerful nation on earth acting like a pedantic child and trying to use his office to influence the Nation to boycott a private company that expresses a political perspective is new. You tell me which you think is worse?

Goodyear stated they don’t allow any political stances being represented by their employees while at work.
How do you get to your conclusion of them “telling people who they can support or not support”?
SoundS like they don’t want MAGA hats or Biden swag.

"To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates 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."

You do realize they probably came up w/this policy because of reactions of many of their employees towards those who work MAGA hats, right?

The left has been very closed-minded and abusive towards those who support Trump. Harassment is running wild. It's crazy because it is the left that used words like "fascism" while practicing those ideologies themselves.

It's a huge reason why I have switched my vote.

I’m voting for trump cause people are big ole meanies!!!

God you’re so soft. It’s embarrassing.

Things must be going pretty great if this is what he's worked up about.

lol

I like how the Tweeter added "hate symbol" into his title, yet is says nothing about hate on the image.

It's simply a zero tolerance policy on apparel that oft causes heated debate and issue between workers, and they have created policies to avoid confrontations between workers.

Let me pose this to you. I have no idea whether your assertion is right or wrong. From my understanding they don't allow Biden hats either. That would undermine your message but since I'm not sure about that, let's go with your point being legitimate.

If attire being worn is causing controversy and a disruption in the workplace wouldn't it be the best thing to stop that from going on in your workplace? Should you wait until the problem escalates?

Isn't that the same thing they do in schools? If institutions of education do not want their students distracted from being educated by using this same principal, why would it be any different for a business?

And are you trying to say it's proper for the president to endorse or call for a boycott or support of any private business? I mean it's not like he can use Goya beans for tires.

Look at the early Covid press conferences. He put the My Pillow guy on stage. Why would the My Pillow guy be brought on stage at a Covid press conference? Then he and his family supported Goya beans when the left called for a boycott against them.

Surely you're not trying to support the idea that our president should support or call for a boycott on businesses strictly depending on their politics are you?

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I am not blaming Goodyear. I'm blaming the whiny-ass liberals who think they can tell others who they can and can't support.

Of course, a company can dictate such things. Kinda like the NFL did w/the kneeling thing a few years ago. But somehow, your tribe thought that was awful.

Funny how opinions can can change when you change who is involved in the restrictions.

I never said a word about the NFL policy on kneeling. Just like I haven't said anything about it since they changed their policy. That's where you lose a lot of your credibility. I'm not as liberal as some and we are not all the same. That's how you get it wrong when you claim we all said or supported the exact same things.

That's like you saying Florida is the same as fish. Both are Republicans but one is nothing like the other. Florida is far more level headed and thinks things out. The other one? Not so much.

You do you but don't think for a minute you have the ability to box me in or make people think I'm the same as OCD.

This is why I don't talk to you. You completely dodged the point about how members of the left are telling others who they can or can't support.

It's a big turnoff for me and I won't be part of a group that thinks that way.

It seems that you believe that some on the "Left" are doing things that some on the "Right" are not. It seems like you think that calling Trump supporters out for not addressing certain glaring issues with Trump's leadership and ethics is not okay ... but then calling the left "snowflakes" and "Socialists" and even trying to imply that the word "Liberal" is a terrible thing ... apparently that's all ok? Lying about the Democratic platform and suggesting that - for example - they are for open borders, that's different?

I've said it a bunch - there are crazies on ALL sides. No side or corner or group has more or less crazies than the next ... and using the worst of a group to try to paint the whole is a tactic we see a lot from many sides. Think it would be better if we didn't do it so much.... don't you?

Who is it that has told you who you can and can not support? So you think everyone who leans to the left is "a group"? Now if you're talking about products and boycotts, maybe you either don't know or aren't willing to admit that this isn't a "left issue".

Let's look at the man you plan to vote for as just one example...

Right now it's Goodyear.



HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES, APPLE, CNN, MEGYN KELLY’S FOX NEWS SHOW, MACY’S, UNIVISION, ROLLING STONE, HBO, MEXICO, ITALY, GLENFIDDICH SCOTCH WHISKEY, OREOS,

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-long-l...ucts?ref=scroll

I don't support the right. I sure as hell don't support those who throw around terms like snowflakes and libtards. In fact, it was that type of labeling that made me despise the right.

I'm speaking up about the left because it is clear that there is a lot more name calling and insulting coming from the left on this board and even in the media.

What I say in every day conversation is much different than what I say on here. I have always spoken against the mob mentality and I imagine I will continue to do so. In fact, the more that some call me out will only serve to fuel my fire, just like it did when Swish said I supported the KKK and didn't care about the death of blacks, or when Rocket said I was going to burn crosses in the yards of black people because I posted the article about Antisemitism by a couple of black athletes.

You obviously haven't been reading the back and forth between us have you? Turning into the very thing you claim to despise accomplishes nothing to support your argument.

I think there is a good chance you missed the worst of the name calling and derogatory remarks from the Right that were a constant theme at one point and were in the overwhelming majority at one time. Not because you chose to, because you were absent from the discussions and not a visitor to PP.

What I think you have witnessed is the retaliation by those on the Left, fed up with the name calling and the hurling of insults, having given up on rationale debate because it was never reciprocated (for the most part).... It's much like your current change from having tried to play the middle, giving up and now insulting people like you once chastised posters for doing .... you feel justified in doing it because of your personal experience, just like OCD and others felt justified in lowering the bar in response to their personal experiences ... It's been cyclical. You didn't witness me challenging OCD with the exact same theme you have done - so you assume that there are a group of posters all coordinating together. That's not my experience or what I see. In fact I think I see much more division and debate among the left leaning posters than the right.

Anyway - like I said elsewhere, I don't think one side can claim the moral high-ground over the other. And picking the worst segment of one side to paint the whole is not constructive. I'm happy to focus on the candidates, their words and actions.

Make racism wrong again.

Really if Trump has “Made America Great Again.” OK....But the opposite has happened so it’s an insult to all the hard working Goodyear factory workers to wear this hat while in the work place. It’s a company policy. Boycott if you wish. Boo hooo

I totally support the president on this, Good Years "stuff" would never fly if it were the other sides propaganda being disallowed.

On the other hand,
A sitting president calling for a boycott of a company is pretty busch league.

Now that did make chuckle.

Funny lmao

Goodyear clarifies policy on MAGA, pro-police gear after Trump boycott call
Goodyear CEO: Presentation “was not approved or distributed by Goodyear Corporate or anyone outside of that facility.”

Goodyear Chairman and CEO Rich Kramer said the slide from a presentation at the Topeka plant “was not approved or distributed by Goodyear Corporate or anyone outside of that facility.” The company has clarified its policy to inform employees that they can “express support for law enforcement through apparel at Goodyear facilities," but are asked to "refrain" from wearing apparel of a political nature.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/goodyear-clarifies-policy-maga-police-trump-boycott

Too late. Just ordered tires for our jeep. Not goodyear. It is what it is, and it was what it is.

Boycott with dollars. Others do it all the time, so I'm joining in.

I stopped buying GY tires years ago anyways. Had two gator back tires delaminate at the same time and almost crashed. Then F1 racing dropped them and sealed that deal.

And that's pretty much what I thought. Neither Biden nor MEGA hats are allowed.

But sadly this is what happens when people believe everything they read on the internet. It's even more sad when that person happens to be our president.

These George III disciples just need to give up and admit that it's not going to happen... it's never going to happen.

So now the employees can't even wear big hats?

Good catch!