Barbie Claps Back At Don Jr's Snarky Tweet About New Campaign Dolls
After Donald Trump Jr. made a snarky comment about Barbie’s political affiliation, Mattel abruptly snapped back defending her
Earlier this week, one of America’s most beloved toy companies, Mattel, unveiled an inspiring new collection of politically-themed Barbie dolls. The Campaign Team set, including four diverse dolls, features a Black presidential candidate and a woman-run campaign team. It serves as a perfectly motivating active play tool to motivate young children to pursue positions in leadership. However, one person wasn’t as impressed with the new collection of dolls as the rest of us — the spawn of President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the boyfriend of Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr., shared Mattel’s tweet adding a snarky comment about the voter doll included in the new collection, whose costume featured an “I Voted” sticker.
“‘Voter’ Barbie must be a Democrat because she’s already wearing an ‘I Voted’ sticker and yet she’s got another ballot in her hand,” he tweeted Wednesday, alluding to his father’s accusations about voter fraud. You know, those claims Trump has been making that mail-in ballots cause an increase in voter fraud — when they actually don’t.
Instead of sitting back and taking it, Barbie –who joined forces with She Should Run, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization encouraging women to run for office for the collection — spoke up like the badass that she has become.
“Barbie is not, and has never been, affiliated with a political party,” a Mattel representative told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday in a statement. “Barbie has always encouraged girls to stand up for what they believe in and shows them they can be anything.
“This doll set highlights a range of leadership roles to pique their interest in shaping the future and raise their voices — from the podium to the polls. This set also provides a tool to allow families to have conversations around important events and cultural moments through play.”
Can we just dial it back a second, and talk about the fact that millions of Americans have been infected with a scary virus, the unemployment rate is freakishly high, Black people are being needlessly killed by police officers. And, the President’s kid is attacking a… doll… on social media?
On Monday, when Mattel announced the election-themed collection, they explained its importance.
“Since 1959, Barbie has championed girls and encouraged them to be leaders whether in the classroom, community or someday, of the country,” Lisa McKnight, senior vice president and global head of Barbie and dolls at Mattel, in a press release.
“With less than a third of elected leaders in the U.S. being women, and Black women being even less represented in these positions, we designed the Barbie Campaign Team with a diverse set of dolls to show all girls they can raise their voices. Our goal is to remove barriers to leadership by giving girls the tools to imagine and play out their future roles.”
