CNN host Chris Cuomo slammed President Donald Trump for posing with Goya products, saying the president was promoting the brand in the middle of a pandemic. A boycott backed by celebrities and politicians alike broke out after Goya’s CEO Robert Unanue praised Trump at the White House on July 9. Nearly a week later, both Trump and Ivanka Trump posed with Goya products in support of the brand.
Cuomo, who has criticized Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, was not pleased with the photo opp.
Cuomo began the segment talking about the White House’s criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is serving as the medical advisor during the coronavirus pandemic. The White House has sought to discredit the nation’s top infectious disease expert after he warned the pandemic could worsen. Publicly, the Trump administration has denied there is any tension between Fauci and the president.
At about the 4:50-minute mark in the video, the journalist begins to talk about Trump and his picture with Goya products.
Cuomo Blasts Trump For ‘Hawking Products’ During a Pandemic
“Let’s start with this,” started. “The pandemic is in full effect. It’s feasting on us, especially red states whose governors followed Trump’s trail of denial to their own detriment.
“You tell me how a president in the middle of a pandemic has got time for this bullshit?! Are you kidding me?! Hawking products? Goya, I don’t care who it is. Resolute desk? This is what he’s resolute about?! Pandemic priorities?”
If it’s Goya, it has to be good.
Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno.
When talking about Ivanka Trump’s photo, in which she posed with a can of Goya beans and wrote a caption in English and Spanish, he sneered, “Are you kidding me?!”
“On your dime, in the middle of a pandemic, they’re selling beans. Are you kidding me?!” Cuomo emphasized for a second time. “This is not left and right. This is reasonable, my brothers and sisters. The guy is sitting at the Resolute Desk with a bunch of Goya products. Proof positive of why we need many Faucis, but we only have one.”
Cuomo finished the segment by slamming Trump for saying that the number of infections in the U.S. was increasing because testing has ramped up. “The president keeps telling you the problem is testing. You don’t think that has anything to do with his desire for this information? Wake up,” he said. “This is what’s making us sick.”
Goya CEO Said We’re ‘Truly Blessed’ to Have a Leader Like Trump
The Goya controversy started when the CEO spoke at the White House. He said Americans were “blessed” to have a leader like Trump, who was a builder just like his grandfather.
“We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder,” he said. “And that’s what my grandfather did. He came to this country to build, to grow and to prosper. And we have an incredible builder and we pray, we pray for our leadership, our president and for our country, that we continue to prosper and to grow.”
Unanue’s family migrated from Spain to Puerto Rico before settling in New York City. His grandfather then started Goya in 1936. The brand considers itself the “largest, Hispanic-owned food company in the United States.”
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