Goya Foods Facing Backlash After CEO Praises President Trump

Newark, NJ — Goya Foods is facing backlash after CEO Robert Unanue stood next to President Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House on Thursday afternoon, and praised the President and stated how blessed the United States is to have him.

“We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder, and that’s what my grandfather did,” the executive said. “He came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper. And so we have an incredible builder, and we pray for our leadership, our president, and we pray for our country that we will continue to prosper and to grow.”

Goya Foods, which touts itself as being the biggest Hispanic-owned company in the U.S., is a privately owned company out of Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1936 by Prudencio Unanue, who emigrated from Spain to Puerto Rico, and from there to New York.

Robert Unanue is the grandson of the founder, Prudencio, and is third-generation Unanue to run the family company of Goya.

Following the CEO’s praises of President Trump, hashtags such as #Goyaway and #BoycottGoya appeared on Twitter.

Several celebrities and politicians also took to Twitter to speak out and encourage a boycott of Goya, including Julian Castro, the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration, as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

.@GoyaFoods has been a staple of so many Latino households for generations.

Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway https://t.co/lZDQlK6TcU

— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) July 9, 2020

Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling “how to make your own Adobo” https://t.co/YOScAcyAnC

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 10, 2020

Unanue has stated that the backlash against his praise towards the President is “suppression of speech.”

“So, you’re allowed to talk good or to praise one President, but you’re not allowed to aid in economic and educational prosperity?” Mr. Unanue questioned. “And you make a positive statement, and all of a sudden, it is not acceptable,” he added.

Mr. Unanue has no plans to apologize for his remarks in support of President Trump.

We live in a time where it’s so easy to be fired from your job for supporting President Trump, where you get called a “racist” or “homophobe” for just supporting President Trump.

Companies these days are not immune from the backlash. Just look at the past few weeks where companies like Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and Mrs. Butterworth’s came under fire for being “racist,” and the companies announced they would be rebranding.

It’s nice to hear that a CEO isn’t backing down and caving in. That instead, Robert Unanue is standing his ground and sticking to his beliefs.