Fact check: Yes, Goya Foods named AOC 'employee of the month' after brand boycott

Ella Lee, USA TODAY

The claim: Goya Foods named Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez its 'employee of the month' after her boycott spiked sales

An article by the right-leaning publication Daily Caller, screenshotted and posted to Instagram by conservative news personality Benny Johnson, claims Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is performing highly in a job – but not the one in Congress.

"Goya Foods CEO Named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 'Employee Of The Month' When Her Boycott Spiked His Sales," the headline of the Daily Caller article reads.

Johnson wrote in the caption of the post that the claimed move was "trolling at its finest." He did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

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Company gave AOC honorary title, Goya CEO says

Goya Foods' CEO Bob Unanue said Monday that Ocasio-Cortez was named the company's "employee of the month" earlier this year after she publicly boycotted the company following Unanue's expression of support for President Donald Trump, which led to a spike in sales.

Unanue visited the White House in July for a roundtable with Trump and other Hispanic leaders, where he said in a speech that "we're truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder."

A number of people expressed disappointment on Twitter in the CEO's praise for a president who they say often attacks Latinos; Ocasio-Cortez joined in.

"Oh look, it's the sound of me Googling 'how to make your own Adobo,'" Ocasio-Cortez tweeted after the roundtable, later sharing an alternative recipe for the Adobo seasoning, which is part of the Goya brand – a well-known Latino household item.

The boycott led Trump and his senior adviser and eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, to post photos of themselves on social media in support of the brand. Critics claimed their posts were in violation of a rule that prohibits executive branch employees from using their roles to endorse "any product, service or enterprise."

Unanue said on "The Michael Berry Show" Monday that Ocasio-Cortez's protest of the brand led to a spike in its sales, leading the company to name her "employee of the month."

“When she boycotted us, our sales actually increased 1,000%, so we gave her an honorary — we never were able to hand it to her — she got employee of the month for bringing attention to Goya and our adobo,” he said.

The photo in the Instagram post is not published in the Daily Caller article and appears to be photoshopped using this Shutterstock image, taken at a June 17 debate ahead of New York's primary election.

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Our rating: True

We rate the claim that Goya Foods named Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "employee of the month" after her boycott of the brand led to a spike in sales as TRUE because it was supported by our research. The claim was confirmed by Goya's CEO.

Our fact-check sources:

Contributing: Savannah Behrmann

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Goya Foods named AOC 'employee of the month,' CEO says

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