A #BoycottWalmart campaign has prompted the company to pull a series of “Impeach 45” shirts from its website and issue an explanation to outraged fans of the president.
The short-lived online boycott campaign got going on Tuesday when some Trump fans noticed a number of clothing items calling for the impeachment of the president. A total of three companies were reportedly selling impeachment-themed clothing with around two dozen anti-Trump items available in total. Students for Trump chair Ryan Fournier was one of the first to point out the clothes:
Soon, #BoycottWalmart was trending on Twitter:
While some Trump fans promoted the boycott effort, some anti-boycott conservatives pushed back against the effort. But the furor online was enough to get Walmart’s attention. By the end of the day, the company had pulled all the “Impeach 45” items.
Walmart also issued an explanation for how the items appeared on their site and why they chose to pull them. “These items were sold by third party sellers on our open marketplace, and were not offered directly by Walmart,” a company spokesman said. “We’re removing these types of items pending review of our marketplace policies.”
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale called off the dogs after Walmart’s decision Tuesday. “No need to boycott. @Walmart has assured me that the merchandise will be down as soon as possible,” he tweeted. “It was not deliberate. Thank you @Walmart for doing the right thing!”
Amid criticism for the move from the Left by those who noted that MAGA gear is still offered by Walmart, AFP spoke with Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting firm GlobalData Retail, who said Walmart probably made the wise choice.
“A lot of the stores are in locations that are probably fairly Republican,” he said. “They do need to take action because it could alienate a large portion of their customer base.”
Calling for the impeachment of the president, he said, was different than expressing support for a sitting president. Pro-Democrat gear is more of an equivalent to MAGA gear that items calling for his removal from office.
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