Trump Praises 'Republican' Sydney Sweeney

Some leftist critics claimed the “jeans” tagline was a reference to eugenics or racial purity, labeling the American Eagle ad "Nazi propaganda." Other TikTokers claimed the brand was no longer inclusive and that the ads were a "dog whistle" telling minorities they were not welcome by the brand. The company’s largest shareholder, the Schottensteins, is an Orthodox Jewish family.

Others applauded the wordplay, calling it a jab at “woke” culture. The “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” campaign caused American Eagle’s market capitalization to jump by approximately $200–400 million in the span of a day or two, with stock gains ranging from 10 to 20 percent over the week.

American Eagle responded to the controversy by defending the actress and the ad, writing in a statement posted to social media on Friday, "'Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans' is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We'll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

Vice President JD Vance chimed in as well, speaking to the Ruthless podcast. "My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi,” Vance said. "That appears to be their actual strategy. I mean, it actually reveals something pretty interesting about the Dems though, which is that you have a normal all-American beautiful girl doing like a normal jeans ad. They’re trying to sell jeans to kids in America and they have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing. And it’s like, you guys, did you learn nothing from the November 2024 election?"

"I actually thought that one of the lessons they might take is ‘we’re going to be less crazy,'" he said. "And the lesson they have apparently taken is we’re going to attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful. Great strategy, guys! That’s how you’re going to win the midterm! Especially [with] young American men. So much of the Democrats is oriented around hostility to basic American life. So you have a pretty girl doing a jeans ad and they can’t help but freak out. It reveals a lot more about them than it does us."