Tag Archives: Linda Bean donates to Trump

Does Trump really know beans about brands?

National, Uncategorized, , , ,

Donald Trump is once again demonstrating his knack to distract. Trump found time amid confirmation hearings for his cabinet and a brewing scandal over his relationship with certain Russian men and women to tweet this:beans

The Trump tweet is referencing a squabble about oversized donations Linda Bean, the granddaughter of the founder of LL Bean,  made to Making America Great Again PAC, a Trump campaign organization. These contributions resulted in a call by a group called Grab Your Wallet to boycott LL Bean products.

The AP reported in Maine days ago that Bean’s contributions to Trump’s Making America Great Again PAC that may have been more than ten times  the amount allowed for individual donations.

Making America Great Again LLC [not a super PAC, and which also goes by the name “Making Maine Great Again”] was limited to individual contributions of $5,000, according to a letter Wednesday from federal regulators obtained by The Associated Press. Federal campaign finance reports show Bean contributed $60,000 while the group spent $66,862.

A longtime Republican activist, Linda Bean has run for a seat in the US Congress, operates Linda Bean’s Lobster Dreams in Maine and also is on the LL Bean board of directors. LLBean Inc. was forced to reiterate an earlier statement that the company is “apolitical” following Trump’s enthusiastic shop at LL Bean’s message.

The donation to MAGA and Trump’s subsequent tweet of solidarity could prove grating to many people not enamored by the soon-to-be president. LLBean may be just another sporting goods and outdoor clothing retailer to some, but for others the clothing is a sort of liberal/outdoorsy ID badge or icon. Just take a look at former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s official state portrait. govdeanbean

Howard Dean, as you can see, is practically wrapped in LLBean outdoor iconography. The painting could stand in for the cover any LLBean fall catalog.

And as for Donald Trump? Well he may not know beans about the outdoors but he knows how to engineer a good distraction from his daily crisis — LOOK SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!