Land O’Lakes faces calls for a boycott over the dairy company’s financial support for Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican who has drawn fire for what critics say are his links to white nationalists.
Among other things, King has stirred controversy by refusing to delete a retweet of a British activist and prominent Nazi sympathizer, Mark Collett, and has displayed a confederate flag on his desk in Washington. King in September also endorsed a candidate for mayor of Toronto who has espoused white supremacist views.
Land O’Lakes, which operates as a member-owned food and agricultural cooperative, in June gave $2,500 to King’s campaign, according to Federal Election Commission records.That donation was condemned by liberals including former presidential candidate Howard Dean and TV host Soledad O’Brien, who called the the organization’s donations to King “appalling.”
This is appalling: “For his 2018 campaign, King has received contributions from AT&T ($5,000), Berkshire Hathaway ($2,500), the American Bankers Association ($9,000), Land O’Lakes ($2,500), Intel ($2,000), and many others.” https://t.co/aB6JywWOSC
— Soledad O’Brien (@soledadobrien) 29 October 2018
“Land O Lakes dairy company sent this guy money. We need to let them know decent people don’t appreciate it,” said Dean in a tweet last week that drew hundreds of responses advocating a boycott of the butter, cream and milk products sold by the privately held Fortune 500 company.