US: Customers boycott gym chain over Trump fund-raiser

ANKARA

Customers of a fitness company in the U.S. are rushing to cancel their memberships after finding out that one of its investors is hosting a fund-raiser for his friend, U.S. President Donald Trump, ahead of the 2020 presidential elections.

According to a report at Los Angeles Magazine on Wednesday, the Equinox brand has been under fire ever since Trump opponents across the country heard about investor Stephen Ross raising big funds for Trump's reelection.

Thousands of Americans stormed Twitter lashing out at Ross and Trump, announcing their membership cancellations or vowing to do so as soon as possible.

Equinox on Wednesday issued a statement to address the customer concerns and said it "has nothing to do" with the fund-raiser later this week and "does not support it" in line with its policy of staying out of politics.

"Mr. Ross is a passive investor and is not involved in the management of either business," it added.

Despite the statement, many Americans including several celebrities continued to support the membership cancellation campaign.

Trump’s reelection campaign and Republican National Committee (RNC) raised over $100 million in second quarter of 2019, the committee announced this July, far ahead of Democrats in election fundraising.