Goya CEO insists he’s not sorry as loyal customers boycott over comments praising Trump
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Goya Foods Inc. CEO Robert Unanue said during a Fox News interview on Friday that he’s extremely not sorry for kissing Donald Trump’s culo at the White House earlier this week, saying he’s “not apologizing” to anyone for claiming that “we’re all truly blessed” to have a “leader” like the impeached president, who failed to wear a face mask as he greeted local leaders in COVID-19-ravaged Florida that same day.
Unanue is absolutely entitled to hold terrible personal beliefs and make terrible business decisions in praising Trump, but what he needs to know is that his loyal Latino customer base is also entitled to voice its disapproval over his support of a white supremacist and rabidly anti-Latino president, as it has loudly done in the hours since his unfortunate statement. “Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo,’” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York tweeted, for example.
“@GoyaFoods has been a staple of so many Latino households for generations,” tweeted former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro. “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.” Unanue even managed to piss off Chef José Andrés, who is an actual saint and is that one person who gets along with everyone:
Daily Kos community member Denise Oliver Velez offered up more reactions here. It’s truly mind-boggling why the fuck one of the biggest Latino brands would offer up Dear Leader-worthy words for a paper towel-throwing, child-kidnapping, racist-as-all-hell president in what could possibly be the final, miserable months of his administration, god help us all. I was confused enough that I wondered aloud on Twitter, and was a little relieved to see I wasn’t alone in being floored (feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments):
Now-former customers were definitely peeved:
“In past interviews, members of the Unanue family have credited the brand’s authenticity for its popularity,” The Washington Post reported. “As Robert Unanue, who took over the company more than a decade ago, has said, his family takes pride in becoming ‘part of the culture’ of Latino communities. In 2011, Goya was honored by Obama for its commitment to serving Latinos.”
During that Fox News interview Friday, Unanue cried that no one boycotted him back when he talked to the Obamas and claimed that “If you’re called by the president of the United States, you’re going to say, ‘No I’m sorry, I’m busy, no thank you?’ I didn’t say that to the Obamas and I didn’t say that to President Trump.”
Okay. But when you really stand by your particularly loyal customer base, when you say you really take pride in the families you help bring together through food and tradition, you absolutely do say “no thanks” to the white supremacist who called them criminals and rapists, said they come from shitholes, and employs Stephen Miller and wife Katie Miller, who reportedly boasted that she was emotionally unmoved by family separation and wondered aloud, “Why do we need to have ‘Little Havana’?”
Unless, of course, you agree with all that shit, don’t really care, or are willing to overlook it for other motives. Either way: better your customers know now so they can spend their money elsewhere.