Nearly two weeks after American Eagle’s controversial campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney stirred debate online, President Donald Trump is now weighing in. His endorsement came after learning Sweeney is a registered Republican.
‘Genes’ vs. ‘jeans’
The American Eagle ad drew attention for its wordplay, comparing “genes,” as in genetics, to “jeans,” as in denim.
The visuals feature Sweeney standing in an open field, narrating, “Genes are passed down from parent to offspring… My jeans are blue.” Critics quickly pointed out the messaging’s potential racial undertones, saying the campaign seemed to blur the line between biology and branding.
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Many online questioned whether the ad was leaning into traditional ideas of who qualifies as “all-American,” being that Sweeney is a white woman with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Online reactions prompt voter record confirmation
In the wake of the American Eagle backlash, social media erupted after one user’s findings. They said they were preparing a video to unpack the layers of the ad, only to discover Sweeney’s voter registration along the way.
That detail led to further digging. BuzzFeed confirmed that Sweeney is a registered Republican through publicly available voter registration records. The confirmation only added momentum to the speculation around the campaign’s intent and casting choices.
Political twist after Republican reveal
During a stop in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a reporter informed Trump of the recent findings.
“You’d be surprised at how many people are Republicans,” Trump said. “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.”
His comment added political fuel to an already simmering controversy and drew even more attention to both Sweeney and the American Eagle brand.
American Eagle responds to backlash
Prior to the news of Sweeney’s political party becoming publicly known, American Eagle released a statement late Friday addressing the backlash.
It said, “[the campaign] is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” the brand said on Instagram. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Despite the company’s attempt to clarify, many viewers continued to read deeper into the visual and verbal messaging.
Some question the “Euphoria” actress’s choices. One X user wrote, “Sydney Sweeney is a star because of her role in a TV show about a mixed race African American lesbian drug addict who falls in love with a transwoman.”
Meanwhile, American Eagle’s comments on their most recent Instagram posts, which all feature Sweeney, include things like, “The car and the girl and the jeans are so American 🇺🇸 😍🔥” and “Make jeans great again 🙌🏽.”
Poll shows public is divided
A recent YouGov poll surveyed over 3,500 U.S. adults to gauge public opinion on the ad’s messaging. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they found the wordplay appropriate, with 16% percent saying they found it inappropriate. The rest were either unsure or indifferent.
From the 18 to 29 age group, 36% found it appropriate, compared to the more than 50% in each of the older age categories.
Sweeney spotted in public
Sweeney hasn’t addressed the backlash publicly, but was spotted Sunday, Aug. 3, in Los Angeles at the premiere for her new movie “Americana.”
While entering the premiere, she was heckled about the campaign. In a video obtained by TMZ, a woman shouts, “Stop the ad, that is being racist!” Sweeney quickly moved past the crowd and into the theater without addressing the heckler.
Trump posts on Truth Social, targets Swift and past ad critics
Trump continued commenting on the campaign Monday morning, Aug. 4, this time posting on Truth Social. He praised Sweeney again, saying she has the “hottest” ad out there.
“It’s for American Eagle,” he wrote. “And the jeans are flying off the shelves. Go get ’em, Sydney!”
He went on to criticize those who had previously attacked the ad’s messaging. Trump referenced what he called a “seriously woke advertisement” by Jaguar from the year prior and also brought up pop star Taylor Swift.
“Or just look at woke singer Taylor Swift,” he wrote. “Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on Truth that I can’t stand her (HATE!), she was booed out of the Super Bowl and became no longer hot.”
He added, “Being woke is for losers. Being Republican is what you want to be.”
This isn’t the first time Sweeney’s political affiliation has come under scrutiny.
In 2022, photos posted online showed a birthday party Sweeney threw for her mother, which she described as a “surprise hoedown.” Some images included guests wearing “blue lives matter” T-shirts and red baseball caps resembling the “Make America Great Again” slogan, though these read “Make Sixty Great Again.”
“There were so many misinterpretations,” she told Variety in 2023. “The people in the pictures weren’t even my family. The people who brought the things that people were upset about were actually my mom’s friends from L.A., who have kids that walk in the Pride parade, and they thought it would be funny to wear [those hats] because they were coming to Idaho.”
