The White House’s communications director has joined the voices of people miffed by the outrage over an American Eagle ad featuring Sydney Sweeney.
Steven Cheung, a longtime adviser for President Donald Trump and the White House communications director, blamed the response to the controversial ad on “cancel culture run amok.”
“This warped, moronic and dense liberal thinking is a big reason why Americans voted the way they did in 2024,” he 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.
Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad sparks controversy: Here’s why
The ad campaign, made in a larger partnership between the “Euphoria” actress and the popular brand, used wordplay to describe Sweeney, 27, who appears in jeans as having “good genes.” Critics have said the jeans campaign amounts to a dog whistle for eugenics and a glorification of whiteness.
Sydney Sweeney critics compare jeans campaign to Brooke Shields’ Calvin Klein ad
In one of several videos for the advertising blitz, Sweeney, clad in a denim-on-denim outfit, 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 says as the camera pans across her blue denim and her blue eyes.
Texas Republican Ted Cruz also took to X on July 29 to blast the left for criticizing the ad.
“Wow. Now the crazy Left has come out against beautiful women. I’m sure that will poll well….” he wrote.
Other notable figures adding their two cents include “Bachelor” star Gabby Windey and even Doja Cat, who mocked the ad in a TikTok video.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sydney Sweeney American Eagle ad outrage is ‘moronic’: White House
