Scott Olson-Getty Images North America—AFP
Donald Trump’s daughter slammed on social media for continued surrogacy of controversial Republican nominee for U.S. presidency.
Ivanka Trump has long been one of her father’s most poised and popular surrogates, but her support for the Republican nominee is sparking calls for a boycott of her fashion label.
A twitter campaign, dubbed Grab Your Wallet, is gaining traction with fashion giant Nordstrom among retail giants under fire for stocking her clothes, shoes and handbags. A woman who tweets under the handle @SheWhoVotes and identifies herself as a lifelong Nordstrom customer wrote an open letter to the Seattle-based retailer calling on the company to dump Ivanka Trump’s “toxic brand.”
“Ms. Trump is openly supporting a man accused of groping or raping at least a dozen women,” said the letter, dated Tuesday, tweeted on Wednesday and since shared on the social media platform more than 1,400 times. The woman accused Donald Trump’s campaign of peddling unacceptable hate speech against African Americans, Latinos, Jews, Muslims, LGBT people and women.
“She is not responsible for her father’s conduct, but she is responsible for her own defense of him,” the letter said of the candidate’s eldest daughter. “Some brands are so toxic, they will hurt your business by alienating your customers, and this is surely one of them,” it added.
The hashtag #GrabYourWallet has been adopted on Twitter by other people calling for a wider boycott of Ivanka Trump products, stocked by multiple retailers, including Amazon, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus. Ivanka, whose brand is valued at around $100 million, on Thursday deftly sidestepped any overt criticism of the calls for a boycott.
“The beauty of America is people can do what they like,” she told ABC television. “I’d prefer to talk to the millions, tens of millions of American women who are inspired by the brand and the message that I’ve created.”
Forbes reported on Wednesday that a survey of her target market—millennial women with disposable income—found that 51 percent were still “extremely” or “very” willing to buy her clothes and shoes.
Nordstrom, which has 347 stores in 40 U.S. states and Canada, did not immediately respond to an AFP request to comment.