After Macy's Dumped Him, Trump Fired Back in a Scathing Instagram Post
You're fired!
It's an expression Donald Trump has been on the receiving end of more than a few times over the last week. Today, Macy's became the latest organization to dump Trump in the wake of racist remarks he made about Mexican people while announcing his presidential campaign. In a statement Wednesday, the retail company announced it would cease selling Trump-brand ties and apparel.
"We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico. We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation," Macy's said in a statement, according to CNN. "In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which are inconsistent with Macy's values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump and will phase-out the Trump menswear collection, which has been sold at Macy's since 2004."
In a classic "You can't fire me, I quit" routine, Trump slammed Macy's in an afternoon Instagram post. In the statement, the Donald insisted he had in fact decided to terminate his relationship with the retailer, adding he was happy to do it as he was never comfortable with his brand merchandise being made in China anyway. He also accused the company of supporting illegal immigration.
The statement reads, in part:
"I have always said that if you are successful, it is very hard to run for office, especially the office of President. I have also continually stated that I am not beholden to anyone and this includes NBC and Macy's. Clearly, NBC and Macy's support illegal immigration, which is totally detrimental to the fabric of our once great country. Both Macy's and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators, are are not looking out for the people they purport to represent, but only for themselves. It is people like this that are actually running our country because our leaders are weak and ineffective."
After Trump referred to Mexicans as as drug dealers, criminals and rapists at his 2016 Republican presidential campaign announcement, both NBC and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision have taken steps to disassociate themselves from the Trump brand.
Undeterred, Trump — and his multi-billionaire dollar corporate empire — fought back. On Fox News, he said Univision's plans to pull coverage of the Miss USA pageant, which Trump owns, was a violation of contract and that he planned to sue. It was a claim made good on this week, when his lawyers demanded $500 million in damages from the network. When NBC dumped Trump from Celebrity Apprentice, the real estate mogul released a statement calling them "weak" and "foolish" and, true to form, also threatened legal action.
A month ago, Donald Trump might have been just another abrasive racist man with a lot of money. His comments may have generated little notice, especially given his reputation as a bomb-thrower. But a lot can change in a month. Now, Trump is a leading contender for the Republican nomination whose stature only grows with every outburst.
A CNN/ORC poll from June 26-28 found Trump placing number two nationally among Republicans and "Republican leaning" independents, with 12% support. He trailed only Jeb Bush, who polled at 19%. In May, before his formal announcement, Trump tallied a mere 3%. More traditional candidates like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have tumbled significantly over the last month as momentum gathered for Trump.
While Trump still remains a long shot for the top prize, the fact that such an openly ignorant and racist candidate is in a battle for first place among Republican presidential hopefuls should be more than a little disconcerting. While Trump may have made the Republican race a "clown show," there's nothing funny about his routine.
