Fox News’ Jedediah Bila Condemns Ivanka Trump’s Goya Promotion: ‘It’s Unethical’
Ivanka Trump, first daughter and presidential advisor, tweeted a picture of herself holding Goya beans Tuesday that caused political observers like Fox News’ Jedediah Bila to question whether the post violated federal ethics standards.
Earlier this month, the CEO of Goya praised President Donald Trump, leading to an immediate political divide with a boycott on one side and a call to buy more Goya on the other. Ivanka waded into the political bean discourse Tuesday, posting a picture of herself holding up a can next to a promotional, bilingual caption: “If it’s Goya, it has to be good. Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno.”
“We can’t have people who work in administrations holding up products and promoting them. It’s unethical. I don’t care if you love or hate the product or stand with or against the product in times of controversy. No official administration rep should be doing product promotion,” tweeted Bila Wednesday morning as she was filling in for Ainsley Earhardt on “Fox & Friends.”
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Others, like ABC News’ Sunny Hostin and the New York Times’ Peter Baker, also questioned the ethics of the photo.
“Has your account been hacked @IvankaTrump?” wrote “The View” co-host Hostin. “I sure hope so. Because as a White House official – Senior Advisor and all that – surely you know this is a Federal ethics violation?”
Baker, the Times’ chief White House correspondent, stuck to quoting the law.
He wrote, “Federal ethics law: ‘An employee shall not use or permit the use of his Government position or title or any authority associated with his public office to endorse any product, service or enterprise … ‘”
Jessica Tillipman, an expert in government ethics and assistant dean at the George Washington University School of Law, agreed, telling TheWrap, “Yes, this is a flagrant violation of 5 CFR 2635.702, which prohibits federal employees from using their federal position to endorse a product. As a government employee, she is expected to comply with these laws, yet she posted this picture and it has remained up for the past 11 hours despite the fact that it is an obvious violation of the law. “
See Trump’s post, which is still live, below:
If it’s Goya, it has to be good.
Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno. pic.twitter.com/9tjVrfmo9z
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) July 15, 2020
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