#BoycottGoya takes off after CEO's Trump praise

[NFA] Robert Unanue, the CEO of the Hispanic staple food maker Goya Foods, praised President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House which swiftly led to backlash on Twitter.

Colette Luke has more.

Robert Unanue, the CEO of the Hispanic staple food maker Goya Foods, visited the White House Thursday for an event that included Hispanic politicians and business leaders But it was this moment which has caused a major headache for his brand.

"We're all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder." That effusive praise for Trump, who in 2015 accused Mexico of bringing "drugs, crime, they are rapists," swiftly led to backlash on Twitter.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and artist Lin-Manuel Miranda on Friday were among prominent voices that called for the boycott of Goya Foods.

AOC, whose family comes from Puerto Rico, referred to a popular spice mix produced by Goya Foods, tweeting: "Oh look, it's the sound of me Googling "how to make your own Adobo" While the Hamilton creator who has Puerto Rican ancestry tweeted: "We learned to bake bread in this pandemic, we can learn to make our own adobo con pimienta.

Bye." And Julian Castro, the former presidential candidate who has Mexican ancestry, went even further tweeting: "...Americans should think twice before buying their products." In an interview with Fox News on Friday,Unanue said he would not apologize for praising Trump and called the boycott a "suppression of speech." In his speech at the Rose Garden, Unanue mentioned his grandfather, an immigrant from Spain, who established Goya Foods in 1936 to make and distribute foods, such as garbanzo beans, Queso Blanco cheese, and olives.

Goya Foods did not immediately respond directly to Reuters for comment on the calls for a boycott but instead sent a news release detailing the company's charitable donation of 1 million cans of U.S.-grown chickpeas and 1 million pounds of products to food banks across the United States in support of Trump's Hispanic Prosperity Initiative - which was the reason behind Unanue's visit to the White House in the first place.