Trump swag sales skyrocket on Amazon
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Amazon shoppers drove a 192,400% increase in sales of a t-shirt emblazoned with the now-iconic photo of former President Trump moments after an assassination attempt.
Why it matters: The image of Trump with a fist in the air was taken by the AP's Evan Vucci and has been widely published by media outlets in news coverage. That it's also being used in pro-Trump merchandise confirms many photographers' fears that the photo would become propaganda for Trump.
Driving the news: The "Donald Trump 2024 Survived Shot At Election Rally T-Shirt" listing on Amazon was the No. 1 best seller in the "Men's Novelty T-Shirts" category as of Monday afternoon.
- The product was listed for $18.99 and available in nearly a dozen colors for a wide range of women and men's sizes.
- The brand of the product is listed as "Trump 2024 Election Shot Won't Be Stopped," which brings you to a page full of more apparel with the photo.
Zoom in: Roughly 15 of the top 40 selling Men's Novelty T-Shirts also featured the image along with some variation of phrases like "Fight," "Never Surrender," and "Trump 2024."
- Amazon's website describes its "Best Sellers" as its "most popular products based on sales."
- Trump-related products marked as "handmade" have also risen to the top of Amazon's"Movers and Shakers" page. Among top-selling listings were a hat, sticker, t-shirts with variations of the image and phrases like "You Missed."
Zoom out: Amazon's search bar on Monday also suggested terms like "trump shirt," "maga hat," "trump hat," and "trump merchandise," Axios journalists in several states discovered.
The intrigue: The "Donald Trump 2024 Survived Shot" shirt is part of Amazon's "Merch On Demand" service — which is described online as offering clothing "from a vast selection of popular brands and independent content creators."
- "Each design is printed when you place your order. Our products have reviews averaging 4 stars and include free Prime delivery and returns."
- The service appeared to have launched in 2015 to help content creators grow their business by selling branded products.
What we're watching: Axios has reached out to the AP for comment on whether it may take action to ask these items to be removed.
- "The Associated Press is proud of Evan Vucci's photo and recognizes its impact," said Lauren Easton, AP's vice president of corporate communications, said in an emailed statement. "In addition, we reserve our rights to this powerful image."
What they're saying: When asked for comment on the merchandise and whether any of it was official, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said: "Official President Trump merchandise can be purchased at DonaldJTrump.com."
- Amazon could not be reached for comment.
Our thought bubble: Amazon sales charts will likely change dramatically over the next several hours as its global Prime Day promotional event kicks off on Tuesday.
Go deeper... Behind the Curtain: "Getting shot in the face changes a man"
