Nike CEO Mark Parker Pens Companywide Email, Does Not Support Donald Trump's Recent Executive Order

Nike executive Mark Parker has taken issue with U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order banning refugees, immigrants and tourist visitors from seven Muslim countries for the next 90 days. In a rare moment of political candidness, Parker sent an email to Nike employees openly condemning the POTUS’s recent policy as antithetical to the brand’s values, saying that “Nike stands together against bigotry and any form of discrimination.” Parker also invoked the story of the Somalian-born marathoner Mo Farah, who has expressed his fears that he won’t be able to return to his family’s home in Oregon from training in Ethiopia, despite him growing up in Britain and representing his adopted country on an Olympic and international level.

Parker is the latest in a long line of businesspeople who have come out in opposition to Trump’s recent executive action: Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz pledged that the coffee giant would go out of their way to employ 10,000 refugees over the next five years; Google co-founder Sergei Brin was spotted at a protest at San Francisco’s SFO airport; this is not to mention a literal who’s who of tech CEOs who’ve expressed their concern over the past few days.

You can read the email in its entirety below.

Nike CEO Mark Parker sends rare political email to employees tonight, condemning POTUS travel ban. “This is a policy we don’t support.” pic.twitter.com/I9w48WA7e8

— Sara Germano (@germanotes) January 30, 2017