Donald Trump has thrown his support behind actor Sydney Sweeney and a controversial advertising campaign she features in, after learning she is a registered Republican voter.
The 27-year-old Euphoria actor faced criticism for appearing in an ad campaign for clothing company American Eagle, with some critics accusing the brand of being "tone-deaf" and promoting eugenics theory.
Shortly after, publicly available records surfaced that showed Sydney Sweeney had been registered as a voter affiliated with the Republican Party of Florida since June 6, 2024.
The actor has not commented publicly on the advertisement or her party affiliation.
"She's a registered Republican? Oh, now I love her ad!" Donald Trump told reporters when asked about the actor while boarding Air Force One on August 3.
"You'd be surprised about how many people are Republicans.
"I'm glad you told me that. If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, then I think her ad is fantastic!"
The president then posted on Truth Social about Sweeney's jeans ad for American Eagle Outfitters.
Shares in American Eagle Outfitters soared on Wall Street overnight, gaining 23.5 per cent.
Mr Trump, misspelling Sweeney's first name, said it was "the HOTTEST ad out there".
"It's for American Eagle, and the jeans are 'flying off the shelves.' Go get 'em Sidney," Trump said in his post.
In the same post, Trump complained about advertisements from Bud Light and Jaguar, along with renewing his complaints about singer Taylor Swift, declaring them all "woke".
The advertising campaign features the blonde-haired and blue-eyed actor dressed in denim and it bears the tagline: "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans."
The US vice-president also weighed in.
Speaking to a conservative podcast, JD Vance said Ms Sweeney was an "All-American beautiful girl" and "so much of the Democrats is oriented around hostility toward basic American life".
"They think 'we're going to attack people as Nazis for thinking Sydney Sweeney is beautiful," he said.
"Great strategy, guys, that's how you're going to win the midterms."
Some social media users said the campaign alluded to theories of racial superiority.
It features several videos in which the company uses "genes" and "jeans" in a play on words.
Several videos show Sweeney, dressed head to toe in denim, discussing how great her genes/jeans are while playing with a puppy or starting up a Ford Mustang.
"Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour," she says in another video, which has since been removed.
"My jeans are blue."
There were concerns it alluded to eugenics, a theory popular among white supremacists that suggests the human race could be improved by breeding out "less desirable traits".
But American Eagle posted a statement that said it was always just about jeans.
"Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans is and always was about the jeans," the brand wrote.
"Great jeans look good on everyone."
This is not the first time Sweeney has faced controversy.
In 2022, she shared pictures of her mother's 60th birthday in which family members wore MAGA-style hats that read "make sixty great again".
Sweeney later tweeted that people were turning an "innocent celebration" into an "absurd political statement".
ABC/wires
