McEnany Calls on Goodyear to Clarify Their Policy on Reported Blue Lives Matter, MAGA Ban

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Aug. 19, 2020. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany called on Goodyear to “clarify their policy” after President Donald Trump urged Americans not to buy tires from the firm after a reported ban on employees from wearing “Blue Lives Matter” gear or “Make America Great Again” hats, while simultaneously allowing “Black Lives Matter” slogans.

A Goodyear employee at a plant in Kansas shared a slide that allegedly was from the firm’s corporate office in Ohio, according to local media. Under the “Acceptable” slide were Black Lives Matter and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride (LGBT), and under “Unacceptable” were Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, MAGA, and politically affiliated slogans or material.

Goodyear responded to President Donald Trump’s call for a boycott.

The slide, according to the firm, “was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class.”

“To be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any forms of harassment or discrimination,” the statement added. “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 called on the company to “clarify their policy” in the wake of its statement. “What was not allowed was Blue Lives Matter,” McEnany said at the White House, adding, “What was clearly targeted was a certain ideology.”

“They came out and said ‘equity issues.’ As far as I’m concerned, Blue Lives Matter is an ‘equity issue,’” McEnany said before saying that the Black Lives Matter organization has called for defunding police departments.

“MAGA is unanimous with Blue Lives Matter these days, if you’ve seen the endorsements,” the press secretary said. She added, “The president will never apologize for standing with law enforcement, he won’t.”

“If you can wear a Black Lives Matter hat, guess what, you should be able to wear a Blue Lives Matter one too, particularly when our police officers are targeted … amid riots,” McEnany said. “He will always stand against our police officers, Blue Lives Matter, for some reason not being an equity issue, as Goodyear appears to maintain.”

Speaking to WIBW-TV, the employee who leaked the slide said: “If someone wants to wear a BLM shirt in here, then cool. I’m not going to get offended about it. But at the same time, if someone’s not going to be able to wear something that is politically based, even in the farthest stretch of the imagination, that’s discriminatory.”

Trump, on Twitter, wrote bluntly that supporters shouldn’t buy the company’s tires.

“Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES,” he wrote. “They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less! (This is what the Radical Left Democrats do. Two can play the same game, and we have to start playing it now!)”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden issued a statement saying: “Goodyear employs thousands of American workers, including in Ohio where it is headquartered. To President Trump, those workers and their jobs aren’t a source of pride, just collateral damage in yet another one of his political attacks.”

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.