WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he’s a big fan of actress Sydney Sweeney’s much-debated jeans ad campaign ‒ after hearing she’s a registered Republican.
Trump glowed about Sweeney’s American Eagle ad after a reporter on Aug. 3 informed the president about new reports that Sweeney is registered as a Republican in Florida.
“She’s a registered Republican?” Trump said. “Oh, now I love her ad. Is that right? You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans. That’s one I wouldn’t have known, but I’m glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic.”
More: Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad sparks controversy: Here’s why
Over the weekend, Buzzfeed News first reported Sweeney’s party affiliation. A person named Sydney B. Sweeney registered as Republican in Monroe County, Florida in June 2024, according to public voting records. Sweeney’s middle name is Bernice. USA TODAY was unable to verify whether it’s the same Sweeney.
Trump, in an Aug. 4 post on Truth Social, his social media app, heaped additional praise on the actress.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em Sydney!” Trump said.
The American Eagle ad campaign featuring the “Euphoria” actress relies on a play on words ‒ “jeans” and “genes”‒ to describe the 27-year-old Sweeney. The slogan: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
In one of several videos for the campaign, Sweeney, clad in a denim-on-denim fit, says: “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.”
“My jeans are blue,” she continues in the ad, with jeans doing double duty as the camera pans across her true blue denim fit and her blue eyes.
Critics have said the jeans campaign amounts to a dog whistle for eugenics and a glorification of whiteness.
More: White House calls Sydney Sweeney ad outrage ‘cancel culture run amok’
White House communications director Steven Cheung last week slammed the negative reaction to Sweeney’s ad as “cancel culture run amok.”
“This warped, moronic and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024,” Chueng wrote on X July 29, in response to an MSNBC op-ed that said it was “fair” to condemn Sweeney’s ad. He added that people are “tired of this” and using a profanity.
Trump, in his same Aug. 4 social media post, slammed luxury automobile company Jaguar for its “stupid, and seriously WOKE advertisement” that featured men wearing colorful skirts in a new company rebrand. Adrian Mardell, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, stepped down following criticism of the ad and plummeting car sales.
“THAT IS A TOTAL DISASTER!” Trump said of Jaguar. “The CEO just resigned in disgrace, and the company is in absolute turmoil. Who wants to buy a Jaguar after looking at that disgraceful ad.”
Trump then took a shot at an A-list celebrity: “Woke singer” Taylor Swift ‒ one of the biggest stars in the world ‒ claiming she’s “NO LONGER HOT” since he made clear “that I can’t stand her (HATE!).”
“The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be,” Trump said.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump praises Sydney Sweeney’s ad ‒ after hearing she’s a Republican
