Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, USA, on February 28, 2021.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump’s legal team has warned Republican campaign organizations against using his name and image to raise money. Even so, several pro-Trump traders continue to make money from the former president.
Companies using the Trump name to sell various items appear to be capitalizing on their popularity in the Republican Party to earn some money, even after he stepped down.
Some of the online stores sell items that continue to promote the false narrative that the election was stolen from Trump. Companies have been using Facebook to promote some of their products since the social media giant resumed political ads on its website.
Trump’s lawyers recently sent a letter to the Republican National Committee, the Republican National Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Congressional Committee to demand that they stop using their name to earn campaign money. The president also asked his supporters to send money to his PAC Save America as the principal entity for his future political endeavors.
The RNC rejected Trump in a follow-up letter and continued to use the former president’s name to raise money.
It is unclear whether Trump’s legal advisers sent similar letters to online sellers using his name to sell goods. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The companies also did not respond to requests for comment.
A group called Proud Patriots is charging almost $ 30 for what they call a $ 2 bill for “inauguration 2021”. The note holder has the name and face of Trump. Trump lost the election to President Joe Biden.
The site also lists a half-dollar coin and labels it as a genuine half-dollar “Still My President”. One side of the coin appears to have an image of Trump and the phrase “Still My President”.
Republican Dogs, which has several pro-Trump pet products, is selling a Trump 2024 flag for $ 15.95. The flag says “Make the votes count again”, echoing a similar false claim by Trump that the election was stolen from him and that the votes were not counted. Federal and state officials said such problems did not occur during the 2020 competition.
AI Love My Freedom is promoting the sale of a t-shirt for about $ 25 that says “Jesus is my savior” and “Trump is my president”.
Since Facebook once again allowed political ads on their platform, these companies have used the social media giant to promote their items, including Trump bobble heads and t-shirts and dog chew toys that show Biden dressed in pajamas and called “Sleepy” Joe “.
The latest Facebook ads promoting these or similar items have been active since March 13.