Following the news that former president Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury over alleged hush-money payments to adult actress Stormy Daniels, both Trump and Daniels started pushing their own branded merchandise to commemorate the occasion – albeit in different ways.
Now, Trump has traveled to New York, where his legal proceedings will take place. And, continuing the trend of including promotional products in the whole thing, the Trump campaign sent out emails offering supporters a chance to buy special-edition apparel featuring a fictional mugshot. (Again, the T-shirts would come with a donation of $47).
Here’s the thing: Law enforcement officials came out and said that Trump would not receive a mugshot and would not be placed in handcuffs, so the image is fabricated for effect.
But, here we are with T-shirts that say “Not Guilty,” with the date of the indictment, “45-47″ playing off of the 45th presidency and his candidacy to be the 47th, and also places Trump at 6’5”.
Trump’s campaign just sent an email advertising a mugshot t-shirt saying “NOT GUILTY” (free with $47 contribution) pic.twitter.com/DSjlZOvURl
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) April 4, 2023
The mugshot motif could come into play later in the former president’s campaign, provided he continues his run for the 2024 election. According to Rolling Stone, some of Trump’s advisors have told him to specifically request a mugshot, with the idea that the image could be used for campaign material down the road.
On the other side of the political aisle, critics of Trump are also turning toward promotional products to mark this historic moment and place a marker in the sand to show what side they’re on.
Progressive organization MoveOn sent an email to supporters offering them the chance to get “Convict Trump” stickers, which come in packs of 10, 20, or 50 to maximize visibility.
This is a new twist on campaign merchandise that, frankly, we haven’t really seen before. As the 2024 election continue to heats up, we’ll be sure to keep an eye on how all candidates use branded merchandise to both advertise themselves and maybe attack the opposition.
