Trump Is Selling Pride-Themed MAGA Swag Despite His Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies
President Donald Trump appears to have some strong feelings towards the LGBTQ+ community. He's reportedly tried to ban transgender people from the military, planned a rule to allow contractors to fire employees for religious reasons, and appointed officials who oppose LGBTQ+ equality. And yet, he's selling LGBTQ+ pride shirts. You heard me, people — the president has merchandise celebrating pride. If you need a sec to wrap your head around Donald Trump's LGBTQ+ shirts, you're excused.
OK, now that you're back — people appeared to catch wind of the shirts on Thursday, May 23. The front of the tees feature the words "LGBTQ for Trump" spelled out on top of the colors of the rainbow flag, while the reverse side says "Make America Great Again." The shirts, which are described as "exclusive equality tee[s]," retail for $30, not including taxes, but they're currently on sale for $24. If you need to see it to believe it (because this is perplexing AF, IMO), they're listed on the Trump-Pence campaign website. But you might have to dig — they can be found by searching the site, but aren't listed with the other shirts for sale. Elite Daily reached out to the Trump 2020 campaign for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
As expected, people were not happy that Trump (who has never even recognized LGBTQ Pride Month during his time as president, BTW) has decided to sell such gear.
"This is probably the stupidest, most hypocritical, most ridiculous thing I have seen today," one person tweeted.
"Trump — who banned trans troops, is against LGBT employment protections, wants ppl to be able to turn away LGBT customers, & is denying citizenship to kids of US gay couples born out of wedlock — is selling LGBTQ for Trump shirts for Pride," another person tweeted.
A Twitter user who goes by the name of Sinead McEneaney didn't hold back at all, tweeting that Trump has the "most homophobic, misogynistic anti-equality administration in decades."
Looks like people are seriously upset with Trump's apparent hypocrisy on LGBTQ+ matters. While it's fine to celebrate pride, it does seem pretty bizarre to do it while your administration chips away at LGBTQ+ rights seemingly by the day. For example, on May 24 the Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed pulling back protections for transgender people by changing a rule that prohibited health care providers from discriminating against patients based on their gender identity. HHS did not immediately respond to Elite Daily's request for comment on the subject.
The president has also banned transgender people from the military, saying in a 2017 tweet that the military should not be "burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." He's also reportedly pulled Obama-era guidelines that protect LGBTQ students, removed LGBTQ+ questions from the census, and appointed anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, such as Vice President Mike Pence, who, according to TIME, does not support gay marriage, ending Don't Ask Don't Tell, and fighting workplace discrimination. (It makes you wonder: Does Pence even know about these shirts?)
Pride gear may seem nice in theory, but when it comes to Trump, it seems like people would rather see him actually support the LGBTQ+ community in a more serious manner.
