Frank VanderSloot, CEO of Melaleuca, a successful home-products business, has recently been targeted as an enemy by the Obama administration for his generous donation to the Romney campaign. VanderSloot spoke at the Bloggers Briefing at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, May 29, to address these blatant acts of intimidation by President Obama.
VanderSloot and seven other individuals were listed on an Obama campaign website, KeepingGOPHonest.com, which singled them out for their donations to support presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Along with targeting private citizens, the posted list claimed many of the eight individuals had “been on the wrong side of the law” and “made profits at the expense of so many Americans.” VanderSloot began defending his company once he was accused of being “a bitter foe” of the gay rights movement—a claim that he says is entirely false, and caused him to lose valuable customers.
Ironically, Frank VanderSloot came from virtually nothing and had to work extremely hard throughout his life to escape the poverty he was born into. Originally from a small farm town in Idaho, he put himself through college, raised a family and stayed out of debt. He says he owes this all to the free-enterprise system for allowing him to “reach the American dream.”
But now VanderSloot believes the system of free enterprise is in jeopardy. “We are now attacking the very institutions that made us so successful,” said VanderSloot. He never believed he would be targeted by the most powerful man in government for being a wealthy individual and exercising his democratic right to support a political candidate.
Despite the Obama administration’s attempt to smear his personal and business reputation, VanderSloot claims he is confident Melaleuca will remain successful and honest in its practices. “At first [being on the list] was scary. But now it’s fun,” said VanderSloot. “I’m proud to be on the list. I only wish I had been higher on it.”
Sara Cummings is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
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