'How disgusting': RNC under fire for monetising Memorial Day with Trump merchandise sale
"#MemorialDay is an important day for Americans & Pres. Trump wanted to do something extra special for his best supporters, like YOU," the RNC tweet reads
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Republican National Committee (RNC) has faced a backlash for attempting to monetise Memorial Day by sharing a sale for Donald Trump memorabilia on the veterans holiday.
A “HUGE” Memorial Day sale was advertised in a tweet, which linked to the Official Trump Campaign shop.
“#MemorialDay is an important day for Americans & Pres. Trump wanted to do something extra special for his best supporters, like YOU,” the tweet read.
Consumers could get 25 per cent off for Memorial Day only on memorabilia like “Make America Great Again” hats, beer koozies, and Trump/Pence flags.
Many businesses utilise Memorial Day as a chance to promote sales, but people were unimpressed with the RNC attempting to do the same in an effort to raise money for Mr Trump’s presidential campaign.
“Nothing says honouring our fallen heroes than using this day of remembrance to make a buck. Leave it to the GOP to besmirch this sacred day,” one critic wrote on Twitter.
Their thoughts were echoed by a majority of commenters who called the promotion “gross” and “disgraceful”.
“How disgusting. Doesn’t get much more anti-American than this,” another critic wrote.
Neither the Democratic National Committee (DNC) nor the Joe Biden campaign advertised Memorial Day sales for merchandise on Twitter.
There were other differences in how Mr Trump and the former vice president decided to celebrate Memorial Day on Monday.
The president attended two Memorial Day services and stuck to the teleprompter when giving a solemn speech about the lives lost in a bid to protect America while speaking at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland.
But he was not pictured wearing a mask at either ceremony, which starkly contrasted the images of Mr Biden wearing a mask when laying a wreath at a veterans memorial in Delaware.
Mr Trump also caught a backlash on the holiday for a storm of tweets throughout the day focused on attacking his rivals and threatening to pull the Republican National Convention from North Carolina in August.
One of the president’s tweets on Memorial Day targeted Democratic Representative Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, with the president calling Mr Lamb an “American fraud”. Mr Lamb served in the US Marine Corps for four years.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments