Utah Sen. Mike Lee vows never to eat Ben & Jerry's ice cream again after July 4 tweet
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream lost a “once-loyal customer” in Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on July 4, after a tweet asking for land to be returned to the Sioux Nation.
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream tweeted on Tuesday saying, “It’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it.” The tweet links to a blog post on Ben & Jerry’s website, describing the history of Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the meaning of the land to the Sioux Nation.
The ice cream company calls on readers to support the “Land Back movement” to restore once Native American land, such as the Black Hills on which Mount Rushmore sits.
“This Fourth of July, it’s time to return that sacred place to the Lakota,” reads the post. “Let’s make it a day that embraces freedom and justice for all.”
Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox.
Sen. Lee responded to the tweet by immediately saying Ben & Jerry’s “once-good ice cream now sucks.”
Lee vowed he would never eat a single pint of the ice cream again before asking questions about the ice cream company’s call to action.
“When you suggest ‘returning’ the land on which our country has been built for centuries, what exactly do you imagine?” asked Lee. “Expungement of property rights? Repatriation of most Americans to Europe?”
Lee then endorsed Utah-based Brooker’s Ice Cream, saying it was “real ice cream made by true American patriots.”
Ben & Jerry’s has long used its platform for various campaigns, including trans rights, reproductive rights, ending gun violence, and recently providing commentary on the supreme court’s ruling to end affirmative action.
The campaigns come as part of the company’s “social mission” which the company said is committed to honoring the rights of all people to thrive equally.
Source: ABC4.com
