White House defends Ivanka Trump over Goya Foods ethics violation claim

The White House has defended Ivanka Trump after the US president's daughter became embroiled in an ethics row over her endorsement of Goya Foods, saying she had "every right" to publicly support the Hispanic-owned company.

Ms Trump, a senior adviser to her father, President Donald Trump, provoked controversy when she tweeted a photo of herself holding a can of Goya beans to promote the brand.

Goya became the target of a consumer boycott after its chief executive Robert Unanue praised Mr Trump at a Hispanic event at the White House last Thursday.

The brand's largely Hispanic customer base said the Goya executive appeared to have overlooked what they termed Mr Trump's history of making "racist" comments about Latin American immigrants.

Following celebrities' calls for shoppers to boycott the brand the president tweeted about his "love" for Goya, and his daughter followed up on Tuesday night by sharing a photo online of herself holding a can of Goya black beans with a caption that read, "If it's Goya, it has to be good," in English and Spanish.

Critics pointed out that as a White House staffer, Ms Trump is required to follow ethics rules that bar government officials from using their public office to endorse specific products or groups. As president, Mr Trump is exempt from many of the rules that other government employees must follow.

The White House hit back. Spokeswoman Carolina Hurley said: "Only the media and the cancel culture movement would criticise Ivanka for showing her personal support for a company that has been unfairly mocked, boycotted and ridiculed for supporting this administration - one that has consistently fought for and delivered for the Hispanic community".

Ms Hurley added: "Ivanka is proud of this strong, Hispanic-owned business with deep roots in the US and has every right to express her personal support".

While Ms Trump posted the message from her personal Twitter page, she also uses the account to share her work on various White House initiatives.

Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, said the posts by Ms Trump and her father amounted to "an official campaign by the Trump administration to support Goya", adding that it made it "all the more clear that Ivanka's tweet was a violation of the misuse of position regulations."

Noah Bookbinder, from CREW, a Washington-based government ethics organisation, said the post was a clear violation of rules for government employees that "say that you can't use your official position to promote a private business".

"It's pretty clear that the context in which this came out is that Goya had been supportive of the Trump administration and the Trump administration was being supportive of Goya," Mr Bookbinder said.

It is not the first time the Trump administration has been criticised for using the White House platform for personal reasons. In 2017, White House staffer Kellyanne Conway came under fire after using a TV interview to urge Americans to buy items from Ms Trump's fashion brand after it was dropped by a department store over declining sales.

The White House, which is responsible for disciplining staff who breach ethics violations, later said Mrs Conway had been "counseled" about her comments.

However, Mark Meadows, the president's chief of staff, has hinted Ms Trump will not face any repercussions. "I don't know from my standpoint I see this as a huge promotion of Goya Foods as much as it is expressing appreciation for someone who is willing to show great political courage," he told reporters.