A prominent official from the White House stirred up controversy late Tuesday over an ad featuring Sydney Sweeney from American Eagle. He criticized the backlash from the left, calling it a “shift to whiteness,” and dismissed the cancel culture frenzy surrounding it.
Stephen Chong, who serves as President Donald Trump’s communications director, shared an MSNBC article that accused the ads of promoting racial advantage based on genetic “whiteness.” In his caption, he expressed dismay with the commentary. “Cancel culture runs amok,” he stated. “This distorted, moronic, dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024. They’re tired of this bull.”
Some on TikTok drew comparisons to a 1980 Calvin Klein advertisement featuring Brooke Shields, while others labeled Sweeney’s ad as problematic, suggesting it had eugenic undertones and referenced “great genes” in a concerning light.
A TikToker claimed the ads resembled “Nazi propaganda” and criticized them fiercely. Activist Jelly Imani, whose profile features the phrase “All Black Everything,” called the ad “a love letter to white nationalism and eugenic fantasies.”
This sparked a notable reaction from Senator Ted Cruz, who commented, “Amazing. Now there’s a crazy leftist coming out against a beautiful woman—that’s what I’m going to vote well,” on X.
In a somewhat mocking gesture, Donald Trump Jr. shared a digitally altered image of his father instead of Sweeney, riffing off a line from the film “Zoolander.” He declared, “Um, Donald is so hot right now.”
The White House and Trump family responses ignited discussions about an emerging cultural shift, with some interpreting these events as signaling a newfound support for conservative viewpoints. This notion was reinforced by references to the cancellations of notable figures like Stephen Colbert.
Meanwhile, American Eagle reportedly plans to donate a portion of profits from jeans linked to the ad to the National Crisis Text Line, which supports domestic violence victims. In a recent statement, the company defended the campaign, showcasing Sweeney and emphasizing the brand’s iconic nature this fall. CEO Jay Schottenstein has connections to Trump, as both he and his family are long-time members of Mar-a-Lago, even having had a wedding there.
