Election 2020

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DeWine Does Not Support Trump's Goodyear Boycott

The Statehouse News Bureau | By Andy Chow,

Andy Chow

Published August 20, 2020 at 6:16 PM EDT

Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) rejected the idea of boycotting Goodyear tires, a notion urged by President Donald Trump after learning the company does not allow its employees to wear "Make America Great Again" hats.

Goodyear, an Akron-based company, responded to Trump's call for a boycott by saying its policy prohibits workers from wearing any attire that supports a political candidate or party.

DeWine says the issue does bring up some important questions in general about the private sector and its ability to restrain a worker's freedom of expression.

But as far as supporting Trump's call for a boycott, DeWine said "No, no, no absolutely not. We should not boycott this good Ohio company. They have good Ohio workers and they produce a good product."

DeWine added that certain restrictions are placed on government employees since they're funded by taxpayers and politics could conflict with their work.

Watch: Gov. Mike DeWine on President Donald Trump's call to boycott Goodyear

Ohio Democrats held a rally in Akron to support Goodyear and its thousands of employees in the state. The leaders joined union workers to denounce Trump's call for a boycott, which came in the form of a tweet on Wednesday.

U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said it's inappropriate behavior for the president of the United States.

"You are going out of your way to use the greatest bully pulpit in the world to attack 3,300 families in this community, we have enough challenges," said Ryan.

House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) laid out the important role the company has played for the region.

"Not only are you attacking the workers at Goodyear, you are attacking the entire community," said Sykes, who was joined by fellow state legislators from the Akron area. "And let me tell you something, if you attack this community you have to answer to me and you have to answer to all these other people standing with me."

Bob Paduchik, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said the president was making an example of corporate America's double standard on workplace policies and that Goodyear put itself in this "political position."

Paduchik defended the president's record in protecting the working class and hit back at Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden saying his role in creating environmental regulations and trade issues with China hurt labor.