A left-leaning watchdog group has filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics about Ivanka Trump promoting Goya products on her official social media pages.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sent a letter on Friday to the Honorable Emory Rounds, the director of the government agency, asking him to determine whether the president’s daughter and adviser violated Standards of the Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.
The issue stems from posts to Twitter and Facebook in which Trump was holding a can of Goya beans with the caption, “If it’s Goya, it has to be good. Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno.”
Goya CEO Robert Unanue inspired a boycott after praising President Trump at a recent event at the White House. Facing backlash, Unanue has defended his support, refusing to apologize and called the #BoycottGoya campaign circulating on social media an attempt to suppress speech.
“The circumstances would lead any reasonable person to conclude her Goya Foods posts represented an official government endorsement intended to counteract the negative effect of any boycott,” CREW said of Trump’s tweet.
“In particular, when viewed in the context of President Trump’s own contemporaneous social media messages about the company, any argument to the contrary would be disingenuous. As a result, Ms. Trump appears to have clearly violated the Standards of Conduct barring her from using her government position, title or any authority associated with her public office to endorse any product, service, or enterprise,” the group added.
President Trump also promoted Goya products on social media.
“As has been reiterated prior, this tweet was made in her personal capacity voicing her personal support. This complaint is another politically-motivated, baseless attack from an organization with a vendetta against all of the administration,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in response to the complaint, according to the Hill.
