Goodyear scrambles to clarify its policies after Trump calls for boycott over MAGA hat ban

Goodyear is offering a clarification of its policy on employees' support for political candidates as President Trump calls for a boycott.

Trump in a tweet on Wednesday urged his supporters to not buy Goodyear tires because, he wrote, "They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS." He was referring to a report showing an image of what appeared to be a Goodyear training slide in Topeka, Kansas, listing "MAGA attire," "Blue Lives Matter," and politically-affiliated material as "unacceptable" at work, while "Black Lives Matter" and "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender pride" was listed as "acceptable."

Goodyear in a statement on Wednesday said that this image "was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class." The company's policy, it explained, is that employees are asked "not to engage in political campaigning of any kind in the workplace," and it discourages "forms of advocacy" at work "that fall outside the scope of racial justice and equity issues."

In reference to the presence of Blue Lives Matter on the "unacceptable" list in the viral image, Goodyear addressed beliefs the company is "anti-police." "Nothing could be further from the truth," the statement said, "and we have the upmost [sic] appreciation for the vital work police do on behalf of our shared communities."

The company's statement didn't respond directly to Trump's call for a boycott, but shortly after the president posted his tweet, Goodyear's stock fell three percent. CNN notes the irony of the president going after Goodyear after previously railing against "cancel culture" and takes note of the fact that Goodyear, according to a 2009 statement from the company, is "the exclusive tire for the presidential limo and the standard tire of the U.S. Secret Service." Brendan Morrow