Trump Backs L.L. Bean After Boycott: ICYMI

FREEPORT, ME — President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday issued a message of support for L.L. Bean after the company found itself the target of a boycott. Linda Bean, granddaughter of L.L. Bean, funded a pro-Trump political action committee, which led the "Grab Your Wallet" campaign to name the company in its boycott of companies viewed as supposedly sympathetic to Trump. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Sears, Macy's, Marshalls and Nordstrom are also on the boycott list.

Linda Bean, who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Congress twice, named her Trump PAC "Making America Great Again" and reportedly donated $60,000 to the effort leading up to the election. Hillary Clinton won Maine in November by taking three of its four electoral votes.

"Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage," Trump tweeted Thursday. "People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean."

In an interview on the Fox Business Network Thursday, Linda Bean said the Grab Your Wallet campaign is "bullying" companies like hers.

“I gave the donation personally to a PAC to support Trump," Bean said. "My cousin gave to Obama four years ago. And he gave many more times the amount I did. But the point is we should have that privilege. We live in America."

Shawn Gorman, the head of L.L.Bean's board, called the company's inclusion in the boycott "misguided." He emphasized the company itself does not make political contributions.

"We stay out of politics," Gorman said in a statement.

On Linda Bean's support for Trump, Gorman said, "Our owners, employees, and customers hold views and embrace causes that are individual and diverse."

Bean is the subject of a probe by the Federal Election Commission for the $60,000 donation to her Trump PAC because it exceeded the $5,000 limit for individual contributions, according to the Associated Press.

"This pretty clearly meets my existing bar for adding a company to the ... boycott list," said Shannon Coulter, a founder of Grab Your Wallet, in a statement. She said she started the boycott effort in October after audio recordings were leaked of Trump making vulgar comments about women.

L.L. Bean, based in Freeport, was founded in 1912.

Related

• L.L. Bean Target of Boycott
• Maine Election Results: Trump, Clinton Split Votes
• Grab Your Wallet Campaign

Photo credits: Left: Gage Skidmore/Flickr. Right: Mike Mozart/Flick

This story was first published January 12, 2017