Jeff Bezos Urged To ‘Dump Trump’: 13,000 Customers Ask Amazon CEO To Cut Ties With Donald Trump
Jeff Bezos is feeling the pressure to dump Trump. In a petition started by the women’s rights group Ultraviolet, the Amazon CEO is being urged by more than 13,000 customers to cut business ties with Donald Trump. The current GOP front-runner sells eight items on Amazon from the Donald J. Trump collection and those who oppose the freshly-minted political figure are asking Bezos to shut him down.
If Bezos listens to his customers and stops Donald Trump from selling items on Amazon, it wouldn’t be the first time Trump would have been dumped. According to CNN Money, Macys stopped carrying clothing from the Republican presidential hopeful last year after his comments on immigration caused quite a stir along with at least a dozen other companies.
Please Do!: @Amazon customers tell @JeffBezos to ‘dump Trump’ https://t.co/nYcm25Ou3n via @CNNMoney #DonaldTrump
— Murray S. Rowe (@MurraySRowe) April 12, 2016
In addition to Macys bailing on Trump, Serta also opted not to renew their contract with the businessman-turned-politician. Not to mention, Univision refused to broadcast the Miss Universe pageant and then NBC cut ties with Trump via both the Miss USA pageant and Celebrity Apprentice. ESPN even pulled one of their sponsored golf tournaments from a Trump-owned golf course. The fallout for Trump since he began his misogynistic presidential campaign has been swift and it wouldn’t be surprising if a progressive company like Amazon followed suit.
Groups have petitioned to have companies and brands with a racist or sexist history removed as sellers in the past and Amazon often have responded favorably. The petition to remove Trump’s line of menswear from the shopping website has quickly gained momentum as Amazon customers voice their opinions and flex their buying power at Jeff Bezos.
Ultraviolet Chief Campaigns Officer Karin Roland released a statement regarding the petition urging Amazon to dump Trump. “Donald Trump has consistently lobbed racist, sexist, and xenophobic attacks against entire groups of people encouraged violence and vitriol against his political enemies and perpetuated a culture of violence against women. Amazon.com should want to distance themselves from this hateful rhetoric, but instead, they’re profiting off his brand,” Roland said in the statement.
More than 13,000 Amazon customers want the site to stop selling Donald Trump’s clothing line https://t.co/0KSBWBt8vz pic.twitter.com/8KQZD25d6U
— CNNMoney (@CNNMoney) April 11, 2016
“As an Amazon customer, I am deeply disappointed that you have yet to sever your business relationship with Donald Trump,” the petition says. “His hatred should have no place in the Amazon marketplace.” It was just last year that the online retail giant banned confederate flags and merchandise containing other images related to it. It wouldn’t be a stretch for Jeff Bezos to go ahead and greenlight a ban on merchandise coming from the Donald J. Trump menswear line, as Ultraviolet petitioners are hoping.
“It’s long past time for Amazon to follow Macy’s lead, sever its ties with Trump, and stop profiting off of his brand of hate,” the petition continues. “He has encouraged violence at his rallies, mocked his opponent’s wife, and even refused to denounce his campaign manager who was recently arrested for violently assaulting a female reporter.”
Dear Nike,
Dump Trump.
Signed by 34,000 people and counting. https://t.co/mORi4kL2M9
— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) April 12, 2016
It was pointed out that Amazon has more to gain than to lose from pulling merchandise sold specifically by Trump. The petition calls to remove items in his menswear line where proceeds go straight to his own corporations. The call to remove Trump as a seller will not affect campaign merchandise and other items sold by unrelated sellers in the Amazon marketplace.
Amazon is not the only major retailer catching heat for their continued business with Donald Trump. Nike has also been under pressure to dump Trump. A similar petition started by the Courage Campaign is asking Nike not to renew their lease in the Trump Tower for their New York Niketown store. That petition has already gained more than 34,000 signatures.
Do you think Jeff Bezos will listen to loyal Amazon customers and end the relationship between Donald Trump and Amazon? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
[Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
