Shoppers exit the L.L. Bean retail store in Freeport, Maine. | AP Photo Trump thanks L.L. Bean heir for her support after boycott backlash

Outdoor apparel manufacturer L.L. Bean can expect an uptick in sales, President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Thursday morning, thanks to the public support one of the heirs of the company’s founder has given his campaign.

Linda Bean, the granddaughter of L.L. Bean founder Leon Leonwood Bean, donated $60,000 to Making America Great Again LLC, according to the Associated Press. That contribution exceeded the Federal Election Commission’s allowable limit for the PAC and her support has prompted some to push for a boycott of the Maine-based company.


Trump, however, predicted that Bean’s support for him would only boost the company’s bottom line.

“Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage,” he wrote on Twitter Thursday morning. “People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine.”

In his tweet, Trump included a handle to Bean's personal company, Linda Bean's Perfect Maine, which according to the company's website offers experiences ranging from "live Maine lobster to relaxing nights in our cottages to gorgeous views."

Bean herself complained during an appearance on Fox Business that she and the companies she is involved with had been the victims of "bullying," noting that a cousin of hers had donated money to President Barack Obama four years ago. Those calling for a boycott of L.L. Bean, she said, "want to control how we spend our money, what we buy, where we buy it. That's un-American."

Bean said she has not plans to step down from L.L. Bean's board and that she was speaking only for herself, not for the company.

"I don't know what LL Bean is going to do. But we're getting a lot of fan mail, a part of the mail that's, according to my son who's Vice Chairman of the board, he says there's been a slight uptick in business actually," she said. "We appreciate that. It's a good time to hear from everybody.”

“Well it's a bullying. It's bullying me personally. It's bullying now the company that didn't give the donation. I gave the donation personally to a PAC to support Trump. And you know my cousin gave to Obama four years ago. And he gave many more times the amount I did. But the point is we should have that privilege. We live in America. This is a free country!”



While Bean holds a familial tie to the company and is one of its 10 board members, the company itself sought to distance itself from her political leanings over the weekend. Shawn Gorman, L.L. Bean’s executive chairman, released a statement through the company’s Facebook page on Sunday, writing that “we fully acknowledge and respect that some may disagree with the political views of a single member of our 10-person board of directors. Like most large families, the more than 50 family member-owners of the business hold views and embrace causes across the political spectrum.”

But, he added, “no individual alone speaks on behalf of the business or represents the values of the company that L.L. built.”

“We are deeply troubled by the portrayal of L.L. Bean as a supporter of any political agenda,” Gorman wrote in his statement. “L.L. Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters, or make political contributions. Simply put, we stay out of politics.”