L.L.Bean as a company does not support Donald Trump. It doesn’t support Barack Obama or Jeff Sessions or Rex Tillerson or Marco Rubio either. That’s essentially what L.L.Bean Executive Chairman Shawn Gorman wrote to L.L.Bean’s 744K Facebook followers. In his post, Gorman pleaded with boycott advocate group Grab Your Wallet to call off its proposed boycott of the 105-year-old clothing company. The boycott call stems from a $60K contribution that Linda Bean, the founder’s granddaughter, reportedly made to a Donald Trump PAC.
Gorman says that Linda Bean’s Trump support is not indicative of the L.L. Bean company culture and that “no individual alone speaks on behalf of the business or represents the values of the company that L.L. built.” He added: “L.L.Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters, or make political contributions.” Donald Trump has used Twitter to encourage Americans to buy Bean products as a countermeasure to the proposed boycott.
Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017
