Sean Spicer Defends, Nordstrom Stock Climbs, When Donald Trump Blasts Store For Dropping Ivanka – Update

UPDATE with Nordstrom statement: The White House today defended President Donald Trump’s use of his official POTUS Twitter account to bash Nordstrom over its decision to drop his daughter’s clothing line. Trump first tweeted his outrage on his personal Twitter handle:

He then retweeted his dressing down of Nordstrom using the official POTUS account.

The department store chain announced last week it would drop Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessory lines, citing lagging sales. This in the wake of campaigns, including #GrabYourWallet, urging boycotts of companies with ties to Trump and clan.

“There is clearly a targeting of her brand,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, when asked at his daily press briefing about Trump’s anti-Nordstrom tweets. “It’s her name, though she’s not directly running the company it’s still her name on it.” Nordstrom’s move, he said, is an effort to undermine that name because of her father’s position on particular policies.

Spicer said Trump has “every right to stand up for his family,” that Trump’s daughter is “being maligned,” and that dropping her clothing and accessory lines is “a direct attack on his policies and her name.”

Nordstrom insisted otherwise, in a statement: “We made this decision based on performance. Over the past year, and particularly in the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point where it didn’t make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now.”

The company said it has had a “great relationship with the Ivanka Trump team” including “open conversations with them over the past year to share what we’ve seen and Ivanka was personally informed of our decision in early January.”

Nordstrom stock, after initially taking a dip in the wake of President Trump’s tweet, climbed 4% today.