President of Goya Foods Robert Unanue meets with Donald Trump.

Can Someone Please Explain to Goya Foods’ CEO That a Boycott Is Not “Suppression of Speech”?

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Donald Trump had another one of his pro-capitalism press conferences Thursday where he trotted out some corporate CEOs to talk about how great he is. One of those CEOs was Robert Unanue of Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States. Unanue praised Trump for his leadership skills.

“We’re all truly blessed… to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder,” Unanue said.

That did not go over well with Latinx people, including prominent political leaders, who aren’t too happy about seeing Donald Trump, the overseer of anti-immigration and family separation policies, being heralded as a leader. I mean, we all know Trump thinks of himself as a “builder” (of walls) but that doesn’t make it true or worthy of praise.

#GOYABOYCOTT has been trending on Twitter since the press conference, with a lot of Latinx and Hispanic people saying they’re done with the brand and showing recipes for replacements, along with a lot of white people and bots accusing them of CaNcEl CuLtUrE.

Unanue himself joined in with the latter group. He went on Fox News Friday to say he was “not apologizing” for his comments and calling the threats of boycott “suppression of speech.” It’s not.

Also, something to keep in mind if you’re, ahem, clearing out your cupboards:

(image: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.
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