In the politically charged environment in the USA ahead of the Presidential elections, US-based Tyre maker Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company had to face major embarrassment after President Donald Trump called for its boycott. “Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES”, tweeted President Trump after a slide from the company went viral banning MAGA branded attire. MAGA, or Make America Great Again, is a slogan popularized by Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Sharply criticising the Ohio headquartered company for allegedly banning merchandise carrying the MAGA slogan, he justified the call for boycotting Goodyear tyres and buying better tyres for far less as the Radical Left Democrats do the same. “Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now”, the POTUS declared.
President Trump’s tweet came after an employee of the company posted a slide displayed at a plant of the company, which listed MAGA hats under the unacceptable category. According to the employee, the slide was displayed by an area manager kiat the Topeka plant of the company, who had said that the slide came from the corporate office in Akron, Ohio. The slide displayed items under two categories, acceptable and unacceptable.
Under acceptable, it listed Black Lives Matter (BLM), and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride. While under unacceptable, the slide listed: Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA Attire, Political Affiliated Slogans or Material. The employee took a photo of the slide and posted the same on social media, after which it went viral.
After the tweet of President Trump, the company went into damage control mode and issued a statement distancing itself from the slide. The company claimed that the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was its part of a diversity training class. The company said, “a widely circulated image sparked a strong reaction, and we wanted to take the opportunity to provide some context to the visual and our policies”.
“To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination. To enable a work environment free of those, we ask that associates refrain from workplace expressions in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party, as well as similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues,” the statement added. Goodyear also clarified that it is not anti-police, as some were claiming after seeing the slide.
In the current election campaign, President Trump is speaking against what he calls the left-wing “cancel culture”, the practice of the left-liberals to punish people for not allying with their political ideology. “One of their political weapons is ‘cancel culture’ — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America,” Donald Trump had said during a speech a few weeks ago. Therefore, by calling for the boycott, Trump sought to pay back the left in their own coin.
It is interesting to note that the Presidential Limousine used by the US President, known as the Beast, uses custom-made tyres made by Goodyear.
