Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted Thursday that he welcomes sports company Nike to the town of Goodyear.
Ducey’s tweet comes after he announced he was pulling all financial incentives for the company after they announced they were not going to sell shoes that featured the Betsy Ross American flag.
Nike asked for the shoes to be shipped back from retail stores after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick said the Betsy Ross flag was offensive because the U.S. had slavery at the time it was designed.
With Nike still investing in the state, the Arizona Commerce Authority touted it was going to create over 500 jobs.
This is good news for Arizona and for @GoodyearAZGov. 500 plus jobs. Over $184 million in capital investment. Arizona is open for business, and we welcome @Nike to our state. https://t.co/ZLPkcs3dkD
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) July 11, 2019
“Nike has made its decision, and now we’re making ours. I’ve ordered the Arizona Commerce Authority to withdraw all financial incentive dollars under their discretion that the State was providing for the company to locate here,” Ducey said shortly after the news broke. “Arizona’s economy is doing just fine without Nike. We don’t need to suck up to companies that consciously denigrate our nation’s history.”
Patrick Ptak, Ducey’s communications director, said the governor is not reversing his previous decision.
“This is misleading. The governor never said Nike wasn’t welcome. Nothing has been ‘reversed,’ including the previous rescinding of discretionary dollars. The governor is pleased to welcome Nike to the state,” Ptak tweeted.
