The Goya episode grew out of remarks Goya CEO Robert Unanue made during an event on July 9 in the Rose Garden at the White House where President Trump signed an executive order on the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.  Unanue compared Trump to his grandfather, stating, "[W]e’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump..." 

Unanue's remarks led to calls from some for a boycott of the company, and there was a lot of back and forth on social media.  For example, "Smartest Simpleton" tweeted, "My Latin family supported you for as long as I can remember. We bought your products from the corner stores, way before you were everywhere in big box stores. This is how you repay us? I have never felt so betrayed by a brand in my life. You're endorsing the oppression of our own."  However, the boycott seemed to have the opposite effect of what was intended.  Radio host Mike Opelka called for a "buy-cott."  Prominent conservatives including Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Mark Levin, Mike Huckabee, and Charlie Kirk expressed support, as did ordinary citizens. "Cat Lady" tweeted, "Never had Goya before but I'll be buying it this weekend! Don't bow down to the cancel mob, they are the minority. #BuyGoyaFoods."  Jeff Hinkle posted a note on Facebook, "We are cleaning out the shelves up here in okaloosa. Go Goya! What a Patriot."  Goya is a private company so it is unclear what effect the controversy ultimately had on its bottom line.

Things ratcheted up on July 14 when Ivanka Trump tweeted a photo of herself holding a can of Goya beans.  The next day President Trump himself weighed in, posting on Instagram (curiously not on Twitter) a photo of himself sitting at his desk in the Oval Office with a line of Goya products in front of him.  Whether inappropriate, unethical or illegal, the optics of the president and his daughter endorsing products from the White House were certainly questionable.  The Trump campaign also ran some ads around the controversy, highlighting "the Democrats' shameful smear campaign against Goya Foods, a beloved Hispanic-owned family business." 

The Goya episode served as a flashpoint in the ongoing battle for the Hispanic vote; editorial cartoonists had a field day, it drew a lot of media attention, and academics delved for deeper meanings.

See also:
Javier Cabral.  "L.A. Taco is Ending Its Goya Foods Partnership Over Trump Affiliation.  L.A. Taco, July 10, 2020.

Rachel Sharp.  " 'They are killing our nation': Goya Foods CEO slams boycott of his brand and says protesters are the same people who are tearing down statues of Jesus Christ as he doubles down on Trump support."  DailyMail.com, July 11, 2020

Joe Berkowitz.  "Ivanka Trump’s bizarre Goya tweet inspires a hearty serving of memes."  Fast Company, July 15, 2020.

Farah Stockman.  "How Buying Beans Became a Political Statement."  New York Times, July 21, 2020.

Technology and Social Change (TaSC) Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (Harvard University).  "A Family Affair: The Trumps and Distributed Racism."  Meme War Weekly.  July 24, 2020.




https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-signing-executive-order-white-house-hispanic-prosperity-initiative/
Excerpt from White House Transcript

...PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you, John.  Great job, John.  Thank you very much.  Great honor.
I’ll also be appointing the CEO and president of Goya Foods, Bob Unanue.  Please.  Please, Bob.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much, Bob.

MR. UNANUE:  Good afternoon, Mr. President.  Good afternoon, everyone.  It’s such an honor and such a blessing to be here in the greatest country in the world, the most prosperous country in the world, and we continue to grow.  And that’s what we’re here to do today.

Our company was founded in 1936 by my grandfather, who left Spain at only 18 years old.  Did not know where he was heading, but he was heading and looking for opportunity and prosperity, and he found it in this great country.

Today, our company is a multi-billion-dollar company with thousands of employees and with facilities all around the globe.  We have a tremendous group of what we call “la gran familia Goya,”the Goya family — the great Goya family.

And these are people — I told the President earlier we haven’t gone back to work; we never stopped working.  Because when I asked our group, our family, “This is going to be a tough thing,” they said, “Look, Bob, if we don’t do it, nobody will.”  And they stood up and they worked, and we continue to work day and night to provide much-needed food and nutrition to this country.

Today, it gives me great honor — and, by the way, we’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder.  And that’s what my grandfather did: He came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper.  And so we have an incredible builder, and we pray — we pray for our leadership, our President, and we pray for our country that we will continue to prosper and to grow.

Today, I have an announcement to make that the gran familia Goya wanted to share with all of you.  There’s a great need today in food banks around the country.  Food is being depleted.  Hopefully, as the summer ends, we have new crops coming forward, but right now there’s — there is a shortage.

So our employees and some partners we have in the industry wanted to donate 1 million cans of Goya chickpeas and a million pounds of food.  And these are all products made in the United States: steel from United States Steel; Silgan containers; Producers Rice Mill, in Arkansas, donating food.  Our farmers — and again, all of our products, a lot of our products are grown here in the United States, made in America.

And we’re — we’re very proud to give back to this nation, to the food banks which are going to be needing some of that important food — something that we do all year.  But in particular, at this special time, we wanted to make that gift.

So God bless you all.  We hope that we continue to prosper and grow in this great country and give thanks to God.  Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Bob.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Great.  Thank you, Bob.  It’s very nice.

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/not-today-goya-boycott-goya-foods

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
July 17, 2020
CONTACT: Jordan Libowitz

CREW FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST IVANKA TRUMP

Washington — Ivanka Trump’s official endorsement of Goya products on social media was an apparent violation of federal ethics rules and standards of conduct, according to a complaint filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) with the Office of Government Ethics.

Following blowback against the CEO of the Goya Foods company after his praise of President Trump, the president’s daughter and Senior Advisor took to Twitter and Instagram modeling a can of Goya beans with the caption “If it’s Goya, it has to be good. Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno,” the company’s trademarked advertising slogan. Her social media bios identify her by her official position and she uses the accounts primarily for government business. The president put a picture of himself posing with Goya products in the Oval Office on Instagram shortly after, further contributing to the impression that this was done in her official capacity.

Federal ethics regulations prohibit any employee from endorsing “any product, service or enterprise.” While it may seem silly to be focused on a can of beans, a White House trying to direct business to supporters of the president is a massive ethics problem. And for this White House, it is just one more example of unchecked corruption.

“This is not just about beans; it’s another example of a disturbing pattern of this administration acting to benefit the businesses of the president’s supporters. In the midst of a worsening pandemic, senior administration officials should not be focused on the promotion of an ally’s business and should not be providing official incentives for businesses to support them politically,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “Senior Trump officials continue to act like ethics laws to not apply to them.”

In 2017, CREW filed complaints against Kellyanne Conway after she endorsed Ivanka Trump’s products from the White House briefing room, saying, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would tell you…It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. … I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.” Conway received ethics counseling following the complaint, although the president defended her, and she proceeded to violate ethics rules and laws repeatedly.

“The law is clear that public officials should not use their offices for their own private gain or the private gain of others,” Bookbinder said. “This is the clearest case we’ve seen since Kellyanne Conway.”

Read the complaint here.