Black Rifle Coffee Company has found itself in trouble with conservatives following social media posts that suggest the company or employees are donating to Democratic organizations.
The company has been accused of making political donations to left-leaning PACs that don’t necessarily support its pro-Second Amendment, right-wing image.
Some conservative personalities on social media have called for a boycott, even comparing the company to Bud Light.
“Dear America” host Graham Allen entered the debate and defended the company, suggesting that those political donations came from company employees, not the front office types who run the show.
“Do your research and be better than the left!” he implores his listeners.
“This is what a lie looks like,” Allen says, noting that screenshots of some of the donations that raised the ire of the right cropped out the names of the donors.
“If you think about Black Rifle, a company that has over 900 employees, I can tell you for a fact that 98% of Black Rifle donates red.”
“But I can also tell you this: legally you can’t dictate who an individual person donates to or votes for,” he adds. “Period.”
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Is Black Rifle Coffee Worth a Boycott?
Allen makes a compelling argument. So The Political Insider took a look at the donations of one particular executive, founder and CEO of the Black Rifle Coffee Company, Evan Hafer.
The vast majority of Hafer’s donations have gone to Republicans, even if the Republicans are of the Dan Crenshaw variety. He appears to have made a small donation to Barack Obama in 2008, when he was an employee of the Department of Defense.
Overall, the company’s past political donations have been, as Allen says, largely pro-Republicans.
Community Notes added a fact-check to the image shared on social media accusing Black Rifle Coffee of donating to Democratic causes, noting that it is a snippet from a much larger database of employee contributions that shows more diverse efforts.
Another problem the Black Rifle Coffee Company runs into concerns their response to the Kyle Rittenhouse case. That case was a crushing situation for those of conservative temperament.
Rittenhouse was attacked by three men, some with serious criminal record, during a serious revolt. The teenager turned the tables by exercising his right to self-defense instead.
But the Black Rifle Coffee Company, in the eyes of right-wing critics, instead distanced itself from him. And some conservatives haven’t forgotten.
“Our aim is not to profit from the tragedy,” said the CEO of the gun-themed coffee company. “Our aim is not to profit from this event. We have no interest in collecting a dollar from this. It is ethically inappropriate for us to do so, or even to give the impression of doing so [of profiting].”
The company would later try to clarify its position, but for some the damage had been done.
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Counterpoint
Before the online campaign to portray Black Rifle Coffee as a liberal company deserving of the Bud Light treatment, it was treated by most conservatives as sympathetic to their causes.
They rose to national prominence in 2017. At the time, BRC employed about 50 people, but had pledged to hire 10,000 veterans. The move was intended to protest Starbucks’ promise to hire 10,000 refugees.
The company was founded by veterans and has a strong connection to the military community. In 2018, more than half of its staff were former military personnel.
Many of its products feature firearms and patriotic images, which appeal to a conservative audience.
The company was backed by Fox News host Sean Hannity and Donald Trump Jr. They also, at one point, were selling “Make Coffee Great Again” products.
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