After a shocking incident, news travels fast. But scammers looking to make a quick buck may move even faster.
Within hours of a gunman trying to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday, countless products bearing images of Trump’s bloodied, fist-raised figure were sold on e-commerce platforms. Temu’s shirts with rally images and the words “TRUMP BULLETPROOF” printed on them sell for $9.59. (One person died at the rally and two were seriously injured.) On Amazon, many of the best-selling men’s novelty T-shirts are nearly the same: some version of Trump at a rally with the words “Fight!” and other phrases. and “never surrender.”
Take sellers on Etsy, for example. The platform mainly focuses on crafts and independent products. One store on the platform offers clothing with slogans and designs that otherwise look quite innocent: Halloween sweatshirts with animated smiling ghosts and camping-themed costumes. The store also lists shirts promoting gay rights and Aboriginal identity. Over the past few days, though, the store has launched a variety of pro-Trump products, including some with rally imagery.
Searching for “Trump” on Etsy returns tons of listings for other similar products—almost all of which are photos of mockups of the products rather than the actual physical objects, suggesting these are print-on-demand operations that produce endless amounts of products. Out of whatever people are looking for. Now, some people are apparently looking for bloody, post-assassination T-shirts of questionable taste.
Etsy did not immediately respond to questions about whether products with this image violate violent content rules.
Other sellers are taking advantage of the moment in more obvious ways: One brand on Amazon — creatively named Trump Fist Bumped Shirt — is selling six T-shirts in the same style, ranging in price from $13 to $19. Amazon also did not respond to a request about whether such products are allowed on its marketplace, which allows third-party vendors to sell their goods.
Any enterprising seller with two free minutes and a Redbubble account can participate – and so far, the platform seems willing to accommodate these items. If there is money to be made, you can bet someone will work hard to make it.
