President Donald Trump praised Sydney Sweeney's controversial new jeans commercial, which has sparked global outrage, saying that it was "fantastic."
Trump made his remarks Sunday evening after learning from reporters on the runway in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that the actor was a registered Republican.
"Now I love her ad," Trump said, according to the Independent.
Public records examined by The Guardian indicate that, since June 2024, Sweeney, 27, has been listed as a Republican voter in Florida.
"Is that right? Is Sydney Sweeney," Trump continued. "You'd be surprised how many people are Republicans. That's one I wouldn't have known, but I'm glad you told me that."
Concluding his remarks with the press, Trump added: "If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic."
American Eagle's recent commercial, "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," has faced backlash, with critics arguing that its play on the words "jeans" and "genes" promotes themes associated with eugenics.
At issue is that the two phrases mirror the outdated racist belief, promoted by the Nazis, that the human race could be improved genetically through selective breeding.
In the ad, Sweeney declares, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color."
"My jeans are blue," she added as the narrator states, "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans."
American Eagle responded to the reactions in a statement saying that Sweeney "Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans."
"Her jeans. Her story," the company continued. "We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,” the statement continued. "Great jeans look good on everyone."
On Friday, Vice President JD Vance slammed Democrats and liberals outraged by the ad during an appearance on the "Ruthless Podcast."
"My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi," he said, according to the Daily Caller. "That appears to be their actual strategy."
Vance added, "It actually reveals something pretty interesting about the Dems, though, which is that you have a normal, All-American beautiful girl doing a normal jeans ad. They're trying to sell jeans to kids in America, and they have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing, and it's like, You guys, did you learn nothing from the November 2024 election?"
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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