American Eagle stock jumps after Trump praises Sweeney ad campaign
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. stock soared Monday after President Trump voiced support for actor Sydney Sweeney’s controversial “great jeans” ad campaign.
The stock was up more than 17 percent by midday Monday. At last week’s close, shared were down 36 percent this year, Bloomberg reported.
“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 Monday on Truth Social.
The president compared Sweeney to megastar Taylor Swift, who backed former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign and who the president said is “no longer hot.”
“Or just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!),” Trump said. “She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT.”
“The tide has seriously turned — Being WOKE is for losers, being Republican is what you want to be,” Trump added.
The ad featuring Sweeney has caused backlash online, with critics claiming there are racist undertones surrounding the message that Sweeney “has great jeans,” a riff on “good genes.”
American Eagle has defended the ad, saying it’s only about “jeans,” Bloomberg reported, and the company’s shares rose when it was released in July.
The president on Sunday said, “If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” after BuzzFeed reported over the weekend that Sweeney has been registered to the Republican Party of Florida since June 2024.