White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Goodyear’s statement Wednesday regarding political speech in the workplace failed to fully clarify the company’s stance on political speech.
The exchange came hours after Trump called for his supporters to boycott Goodyear over a photo of what appeared to be the company’s policy of banning pro-Trump paraphernalia while allowing Black Lives Matter symbols. Goodyear released a statement soon after saying the pictured policy was fake, and the company’s true policy is that no political speech of any kind is permitted in the workplace. McEnany argues this is not a sufficient explanation.
.@PressSec: “Goodyear needs to come out and clarify their policy.”
— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) August 19, 2020
The viral photo appeared to show a Goodyear training session on diversity and inclusing, listing “Black Lives Matter” and “LGBT” as acceptable symbols, while “MAGA” and “Blue Lives Matter” were unacceptable. (RELATED: ‘What War Has Trump Started?’: Greg Gutfeld Challenges Juan Williams To Name Just One)
Goodyear says it’s ‘acceptable’ to support Black Lives Matter but ‘unacceptable’ to show support for Blue Lives Matter, MAGA, and All Lives Matter.https://t.co/BnS3e8sYPB pic.twitter.com/qpyyZgwopI
— Abigail Marone (@abigailmarone) August 19, 2020
“First, the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class,” Goodyear said a statement responding to backlash. “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.”
McEnany declined to clarify whether the president’s motorcade still uses Goodyear tires.
