President-elect tweeted his support for L.L. Bean, the clothing and outdoor equipment company, in response to a leftist effort to boycott the company because one of its 50 co-owners donated money to a pro-Trump political action committee (PAC).
The donor, Linda Bean, is one of the members of the family that founded the company. She donated $60,000 to the Making America Great Again LLC PAC, which is reportedly being converted to a super PAC so that it can accept the donation legally. The maximum individual contribution to a regular PAC allowed in the 2016 election was $5,000 per individual.
A left-wing campaign called “#GrabYourWallet” subsequently added L.L. Bean to its list of companies to consider boycotting, solely because, according to its online boycott spreadsheet, “Company leader raised funds for Trump PAC.”
In response, and in apparent reaction to media coverage of the controversy over the past few days, Trump tweeted his support for Bean and the company:
Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017
Critics, such as Mara Liasson of National Public Radio, argued that Trump was not just defending a business from a boycott, but attempting to pick “winners and losers” in the economy for political reasons.
Obama frequently plugged his favorite companies at several points in his presidency. In 2012, he called JP Morgan Chase “one of the best managed banks there is.” At the time, Obama had more than $500,000 in funds in an account at the bank.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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