U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for a boycott of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, accusing the company of “playing politics” by forbidding workers from donning “Make America Great Again” hats and other political attire worn by Trump supporters.
Trump wrote on Twitter, “Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES – They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS,” referring to his slogan “Make America Great Again” often emblazoned on baseball caps. The President also said at a White House briefing, “I’m not happy with Goodyear because what they’re doing is playing politics.”
Goodyear has said, however, that a widely circulated image that triggered the controversy was not created or distributed by the company’s corporate group. The image detailed appropriate and inappropriate examples of attire, with ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride’ deemed acceptable, while ‘Blue Lives Matter’ and ‘MAGA Attire’ were not. “To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any form of harassment or discrimination,” the company said in a statement.
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