White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday defended a boycott declared by President Donald Trump after Goodyear Tire banned MAGA gear from their factories.
“If you can wear a Black Lives Matter hat, guess what? You should be able to wear a Blue Lives Matter one, too,” McEnany said during the White House press briefing on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier Wednesday, the president criticized the tire company on Twitter after an image of an employee diversity training program slide went viral on social media.
The slide showed that “Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA Attire, Political Affiliated Slogans or Material” were “unacceptable,” while support for “Black Lives Matter (BLM), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride (LGBT)” was acceptable.
“Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES – They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
McEnany added that “What was clearly targeted was a certain ideology.”
She disputed the idea that Goodyear was only trying to ban political speech and not issues of equity.
“As far as I’m concerned, Blue Lives Matter is an equity issue. There have been police officers across this country that have been targeted because they wear the badge,” she said, referring to recent police officer attacks.
She said that the president unequivocally stood with law enforcement.
“MAGA is pretty much unanimous with Blue lives matter at this stage if you’ve seen the endorsements,” she said.
She said that the president likely announced a boycott on Twitter to urge supporters to boycott the tire company but said she was unsure whether President Trump would demand the federal government stop purchasing Goodyear tires.