Malliotakis announces donations of Goya products amid controversy

Go Goya?

With U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others calling for a boycott of Goya Foods after its CEO praised President Donald Trump, Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis is standing by the 84-year-old company.

Malliotakis, a Republican who is running for Congress in the 11th C.D. against incumbent Democrat Max Rose, announced a Goya canned food drive to benefit local food pantries.

“U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s attempt to launch a boycott is symptomatic of the radical left’s attempts to bully and intimidate those who hold opposing views,” said Malliotakis. “The fact that her actions are aimed at an 84-year-old Hispanic family-owned business over political differences is shameful. Attempts to silence opposing views are a trademark of AOC’s brand of socialism and are one of the reasons my mother fled Communist Cuba.”

During a conference in the Rose Garden on July 9, Goya CEO Robert Unanue said, ““We are all truly blessed, at the same time, to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder.”

“Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling ‘how to make your own Adobo,’” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, referring to one of Goya’s best-selling seasoning products.

Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro tweeted, “Free speech works both ways. @GoyaFoods CEO is free to support a bigoted president who said an American judge can’t do his job because he’s ‘Mexican,’ who treats Puerto Rico like trash, and who tries to deport Dreamers. We’re free to leave his products on the shelves.”

Malliotakis will accept donations of Goya products at her campaign headquarters, 2300 Richmond Road, Staten Island, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-7 p.m., from July 13 through the end of the month. She and her volunteers will then deliver the food to local pantries.

“On Friday night, I made Goya frijoles in honor of my mother, abuela (grandmother) and freedom-loving Americans,” said Malliotakis. “I am announcing my Goya canned food drive in the same spirit as Goya Foods, which has generously donated millions of pounds of food to people in our nation and around the world. They’ve donated meals for New York City students as well as tons of food to the people of Venezuela, who are suffering under the same destructive socialist policies that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would like to inflict on the American people.”