As some Americans try to come to terms with Donald Trump becoming the 45th President of the United States, other Americans have embraced the coming Trump presidency with open arms. One of those Americans, or in this case American companies, that have embraced the road ahead was the shoe company New Balance.
Shortly after Trump was elected, the shoe manufacturer was quick to support Trump for his stance opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, igniting backlash from sneakerheads all over. Many sneakerheads blasted New Balance for supporting what many call a "racist" and a "bigot" and posted pictures and videos of themselves throwing away or burning New Balance shoes.
I'm going to start off by saying that many people are blowing this way out of proportion. I know there are some people that are going to kill me for saying this but just because New Balance supports a Trump presidency, doesn't mean they agree with all of his stances or share the same mindset as some of his more radical supporters. I don't like the fact that New Balance supports him, but I also feel like many people are trying to condemn the brand without trying to at least understand why they feel that way.
Now before you exit from my article hear me out; maybe New Balance is supporting Trump for business reasons. As a former New Balance employee, I know that one thing that this company has taken pride in is being one of the few shoe manufacturers to make the majority of their products in the U.S. For New Balance, partnerships like the Trans-Pacific hurt them since it was a free trade agreement that rewarded brands with lower tariffs who manufactured their products overseas. Since Trump was against this partnership, New Balance might have seen this as a chance to further strengthen their rising brand.
I will admit, publically siding with Trump after he made comments about deporting millions of immigrants and Muslims and suggesting to build a wall definitely hurts the brand. As a huge fan of the brand, I was extremely hurt to learn that they supported Trump, but I also felt that there had to be something better to this revelation. I hope that New Balance only supported him for business reasons and nothing further.
And by the way; to all the sneakerheads burning or throwing away your shoes, New Balance, Yeezys, Jordans, whatever, you're not hurting the companies when you do stuff like that. They already have your money, so you getting rid of your shoes is just you wasting your own money, so please stop. Thank you.
