Olive Garden has denied rumours it is funding President Trump’s re-election campaign - after a viral tweet called for the chain restaurant to be boycotted.
Over the weekend, #BoycottOliveGarden began trending on Twitter after a tweet, which has since been deleted, alleged that the restaurant was “funding Trump’s re-election in 2020”.
“Because Olive Garden is a major contributor to the re-election campaign of aspiring dictator Donald Trump, I will no longer be patronising your restaurants,” one person wrote on Twitter in response to the claim.
Another said: “When you stop donating to Trump my family and I will return. We love your restaurants but our values are more important.”
However, the restaurant has since disputed the claims on social media, denying that Olive Garden nor its parent company Darden Restaurants Inc have donated money to the Trump campaign.
“We don’t know where this information came from, but it is incorrect,” the company responded on Twitter. “Our company does not donate to presidential candidates.”
In response to another tweet alleging that Darden Restaurants was the party that had donated, Olive Garden said: “To clarify, Darden does not donate to federal candidates.”
On Monday, the restaurant was continuing to deny the allegation on Twitter as users continued to see the trending hashtag calling for a boycott of the Italian restaurant.
In a statement to The Independent, Olive Garden reiterated its denial: “We don’t know where this information came from, but it is incorrect. Our company does not donate to presidential candidates.”
While it is unclear what prompted the tweet, earlier this month, a widely shared list of companies “supporting Trump’s re-election” went viral on Twitter. The list named Olive Garden, as well as other restaurants including Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendy’s and Taco Bell.
However, according to The Washington Post, the contributions were likely from individuals who work for the companies, not the actual companies.
Also this month, Equinox and SoulCycle faced backlash after it was revealed that owner Stephen Ross held a fundraiser for the president’s re-election campaign.
In response, both companies attempted to distance themselves from Ross, stating Equinox and SoulCycle “have nothing to do with the event and do not support it”.
