‘Whole’ lotta Mitch backlash
They won’t be selling this magazine in the checkout aisle.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been dubbed WholeFoods Magazine’s “Person of the Year” — and the ensuing outrage prompted Whole Foods Market to reassure shoppers it has nothing to do with the trade publication.
McConnell brought attention to the award when he tweeted out a photo Wednesday of himself beaming on the cover of the magazine, saying he was “honored” to take the 2019 title.
“I was recognized as the most influential person in the natural products industry, specifically because of my work to legalize industrial #hemp for farmers in Kentucky and around the country,” he tweeted Wednesday.
Yet McConnell’s announcement immediately sent liberals who shop at the chain into a tizzy, as numerous people called for boycotts of the grocery store. “Who shops Whole Foods? Not me anymore!” wrote user @1anniem on Thursday.
“Whole Foods gave Mitch McConnell an award for supporting cannabis. F--k Whole Foods,” tweeted Twitter user DrKC4.
Others wrote things like “SHAME ON YOU!” and said they were unable to “stomach” the endorsement.
In response, Whole Foods Market spent the week sending dozens of tweets to irate shoppers, insisting their company “is not affiliated with this publication.”
Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980, while WholeFoods Magazine began publishing in 1984. The periodical focuses on natural remedies and readers’ wellness.
The cover story refers to McConnell as a “hemp hero” and “cannabis champion” and “climate villain.”
“Odds are, you have an opinion about the Republican senator from Kentucky,” the article opens. “Regardless of whether that opinion is positive or not, one thing is certain: Mitch McConnell has done a tremendous amount to influence the natural-products industry in 2019, and what he has set in motion will continue to impact this industry for a long time to come.”
The piece also quotes general counsel to the US Hemp Roundtable Jonathan Miller as saying McConnell “went from Darth Vader to My Hemp Hero.”