Supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump are calling for a boycott of Starbucks after its CEO, Howard Schultz, endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.
“Hopefully Hillary Clinton will be elected president,” Schultz said on Wednesday during an interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
“On the other side, we’ve seen such vitriolic display of bigotry and hate and divisiveness, and that is not the leadership we need for the future of the country,” he added.
Schultz also appeared on CBS This Morning, declaring, “I’m engaged as a private citizen recognizing that Hillary Clinton needs to be the next president of the United States.”
After learning about the endorsement, Trump fans took to Twitter to vent their frustration.
#BoycottStarbucks already have been but now they support #CrookedHillary …I'm out 😳✌🏻️
— NPC_Sophie (@NPC_Sophie) September 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/muzikgirl11/status/773707364566310913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
#boycottstarbucks. I guess I'm done with Starbucks after CEO backs a Crooked Hillary
— Deplorable Mike the Chump (@mjm_MAGA) September 8, 2016
Schultz refers to himself as a “lifelong Democrat” and is known to be one of America’s most politically outspoken chief executives. But his liberal advocacy has met with customer resistance on several occasions.
Earlier last year, Schultz received huge blowback after he started the “Race Together” initiative. Starbucks employees were encouraged to write the slogan on coffee cups in the hopes that customers would start a conversation about race relations in America.