Calls for a boycott of Goya beans, chickpeas and other foods grew louder after Chief Executive Robert Unanue made a series of false claims about the presidential election in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Florida on Sunday.
Unanue had already sparked controversy with praise for Donald Trump, who last year led Ivanka Trump to pose, infamously, with a can of Goya beans.
On the stage in Orlando, Unanue called Donald Trump “the real, legitimate and still current president of the United States”.
He also falsely claimed that the presidential election that Trump definitively lost to Joe Biden and the state dispute in Georgia, which Biden narrowly won, were “illegitimate” and claimed that the ballots in the mail were fraudulent.
“We still have faith,” said Unanue, “that the majority of the people in the United States voted for the president … I think the vast majority of the people in the United States voted for President Trump, and even some Democrats.”
Biden won more than 81 million votes, or 51.3% of the total cast, to more than 74 million for Trump. The Democrat won the electoral college 306-232, a margin that Trump considered overwhelming when he was in his favor over Hillary Clinton.
Trump continued to lie about the election, in January urging his supporters to attack the United States Capitol in an attempt to prevent ratification of the results. This led to his second impeachment, which ended with his second acquittal. The former president repeated his lies about the election in his speech at CPAC on Sunday night.
Unanue had previously been censored by his company for speaking out in support of Trump. In January, owner Andy Unanue told the New York Post: “Bob doesn’t speak for Goya Foods when he speaks on TV. The family has different opinions about politics, but politics is not part of our business. Our political views are irrelevant. “
Robert Unanue then said: “I do not believe that I should speak politically or based on faith on behalf of the company. But I leave open the possibility of speaking on my behalf. “
After her speech at CPAC on Sunday, journalist Soledad O’Brien tweeted: “Goya’s people should be ashamed.”
The speech also generated new calls for a boycott of Goya’s products.
“Enough with Goya chickpeas for me,” tweeted a famous consumer, Joy Behar, co-host of The View on ABC.