Republicans were criticized by a Wisconsin-based spice company for their alleged racism.
"The CEO of Penzeys Spices renamed the extended Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend to be 'Republicans are racist weekend' in a recent newsletter to customers, wherein he said his aim was to anger Republicans in honor of the late civil rights icon," Fox Business reported Tuesday.
In 2019, the company spent more than $100,000 on ads calling for the impeachment of Donald Trump.
"Remember how Republicans, going against a mountain of evidence to the contrary, once again lied and said BLM wasn't a peaceful movement but instead terrorists inciting violence throughout the country and then raced out to buy a crapload of guns because maybe they were finally going to get their chance to shoot a Black person?" Penzey wrote in the newsletetter. "What a bunch of racists."
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He urged Republicans to become better people.
"The racist label is one you will deservingly wear every day you stand with [the Republican Party]. Get used to it, or maybe instead, become a better person. The choice is yours. We will be here rooting for you to Choose Love," he wrote.
The message has sparked a backlash.
"I am not a Democrat or a Republican, having never registered for either party," one person, who described himself as a "lifelong Penzeys customer," told Fox Business. "I am, however, first and foremost a patriot and as such I recognize the difficult time our country is facing right now as various factions inside and out try to foment discord amongst us. The fact that any company feels they can make such a patently absurd statement like this and not immediately be condemned by all is testament to how far things have deteriorated in this great country."@PenzeysSpices as a long-time (now former) customer, I am both saddened and angry with Penzeys calling MLK Day \u201cRepublicans are racist weekend\u201d. This sort of hate is uncalled for and is exactly the behavior that is causing such a divide in the U.S. please do better— Roger Ward (@Roger Ward) 1642515207
I haven\u2019t been a Republican in over five years, but I have friends and relatives I love who still are, and this is the sort of insult that makes me not want to give @PenzeysSpices any more of my $. Must be nice to have the sort of market power to arbitrarily alienate customers.pic.twitter.com/m3f9cfhT68— tedfrank (@tedfrank) 1642390823
I will never buy another item from your stores. Very poor business decision to tweet something like this. Being democratic or republican makes no difference on buying spices. It\u2019s unfortunate because I enjoyed going there but will not because of the divisiveness you show!— Robert Cardenas (@Robert Cardenas) 1642277602
Conservatives, if you are giving money to this company you are supporting the enemy. Don't give your money to an evil company like this. #tcnthttps://twitter.com/PenzeysSpices/status/1482144438398898183\u00a0\u2026— \u2605 John Jordan (@\u2605 John Jordan) 1642514380
I USED to shop at @PenzeysSpices but I guess I won't anymore. Not because I'm 'mostly' Republican, but because I don't want to support a company that is so divisive and discriminatory. And angry.https://twitter.com/PenzeysSpices/status/1482144438398898183\u00a0\u2026— Matt Birk (@Matt Birk) 1642271040
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