Macy’s announced today it is pulling the Donald Trump branded merchandise after he made inflammatory and racially charged statements directed towards immigrants from Mexico, calling them “killers and rapists,” according to CNN.
Macy’s said in a statement to CNN that the company “stands for diversity” and that it had no tolerance for discrimination.
“We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico,” the company said in a statement. “We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation. In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which are inconsistent with Macy’s values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump and will phase out the Trump menswear collection, which has been sold at Macy’s since 2004.”
Angelo Carusone, leader of the Dump Trump effort and creator of the MoveOn.org petition urging Macy’s to drop Trump issued a statement in a press release.
“In the last few days, Donald Trump has demonstrated what participants in the Dump Trump effort have been warning Macy’s about for years – that Donald Trump’s brand of bigoted bullying is simply bad for business,” Carusone said. “After more than three years of allowing Donald Trump’s toxic brand to turn off thousands of customers and damage their own reputation, Macy’s has finally made the right decision to stop investing in and supporting Donald Trump. Onward!”
The petition, created in 2012 by Carusone on MoveOn.org, called on Macy’s to dump Trump for his “reckless, hateful and racially inflammatory remarks.” Since launching nearly three years ago, it has been signed by more than 725,000 people.
Trump retorted back in a statement that it was his decision to end his relationship with Macy’s and accused both the department store and NBC of supporting illegal immigration.
“Both Macy’s and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators, who are not looking out for the people they purport to represent, but only for themselves,” Trump said. “It is people like this that are actually running our country because our leaders are weak and ineffective.”
He also said that if he were to start a new product line in the future, he would make sure that his ties and shirts are made in America.
According to CNN, Univison announced last week announced it would cancel its telecast of the Miss USA pageant, which is partially owned by Trump, and it would cut all business ties with him. NBC Universal, which had jointly owned the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants with Trump, has also decided to sever its relationship. NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” will no longer air with Trump on the show.