Footwear manufacturer New Balance is defending itself after an American neo-Nazi website declared the brand's colourful kicks the 鈥淥fficial Shoes of White People.鈥�

The pronouncement came after a reporter quoted New Balance vice president of public affairs Matt LeBretton praising America鈥檚 incoming Republican administration.

鈥淭he Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us and frankly, with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the right direction,鈥� LeBretton said in response to a question about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which Trump 鈥� and his former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton 鈥� vocally opposed during the campaign.

Privately-held New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., which is the only major American company that still makes shoes in the U.S., opposed the TPP on the grounds that it would abet competitors that exclusively manufacture overseas, the Wall Street Journal reported. Although it operates factories in the U.S. and U.K., the 110-year-old Boston-based company makes the majority of its shoes in Asia.

Taken out of context, the quote immediately sparked intense backlash on social media, with some calling on liberals to boycott the brand and others throwing the sneakers into trash bins or setting them on fire.

On Nov. 10, the company sought to stymie the backlash with a carefully-worded statement on its Twitter account.

鈥淲e believe in community,鈥� the post reads. 鈥淲e believe in humanity鈥� Since 1906, we have carved our own path in being passionately committed to making things at our five factories in New England, even when nobody else did.鈥�

The sneaker backlash, however, may have attracted some unwanted attention. On Nov. 12, The Daily Stormer, a major online purveyor of alt-right racist and homophobic hate literature, declared New Balance the 鈥淥fficial Shoes of White People.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 time to get on-board with New Balance now,鈥� an article attributed to unabashed white supremacist and Trump supporter Andrew Anglin reads. 鈥淭heir brave act has just made them the official brand of the Trump Revolution鈥� New Balance is making a gesture to support White people and to support US manufacturing. We need to support that.鈥�

鈥淭his will be fantastic,鈥� Anglin goes on to say. 鈥淲e will be able to recognize one another by our sportswear.鈥�

Anglin鈥檚 post put New Balance back on the defensive, leading to yet another Twitter statement on Monday.

鈥淣ew Balance does not tolerate bigotry or hate in any form,鈥� the statement read.

It declares that LeBretton鈥檚 comments were 鈥渢aken out of context鈥� and that the company is a 鈥渧alues-driven organization鈥� that employs people 鈥渇rom all races, genders, cultures and sexual orientations.鈥�

But this isn鈥檛 the first time New Balance has courted controversy for perceived ties to the Republican Party. In the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, New Balance chairman Jim Davis donated a total of $1 million to a Mitt Romney-affiliated Super PAC, sparking intense backlash against the shoe company from the LGBT community. Prior to the donations, Romney had pledged to support a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriages. A search on the U.S. Federal Election Commission website, moreover, also yielded information on numerous financial contributions to Republican candidates and super PACs by both Davis and LeBretton.

With files from the Associated Press