An organisation has responded quickly to the Trump family's illness. Photo / File
An organisation has responded quickly to the Trump family's illness. Photo / File
Hours after US President Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus, and as he was removed from the White House and hospitalised, an organisation linked to his re-election campaign began cashing in on the diagnosis.
Trump Store America by Spalding Group — a company that has worked for Republican campaigns and conservative organisations for decades — alerted its customers that it's now selling banners and signs that read 'Stand with President Trump Defeat COVID-19' and 'Pray for the First Family' from NZ$16 to NZ$75.
"President Trump leaves it all on the field fighting for us each day, its (sic) time for us to support the First Family in any way we can. We are praying for President Trump and Melania Trump as well as all the patriots working in the White House. We are United to defeat COVID-19!" a section of the site reads.
It then alerts potential buyers that there are more than 600 items to choose from, with free shipping on orders over NZ$150.
Trump and First Lady Melania tested positive to COVID-19 in the early hours of Friday morning, local time.
Many took to Twitter to slam the organisation's move with some saying "they're not surprised" after a screenshot of the new merchandise was posted to social media.
"They're selling merch off it lol," wrote Michael Safi, an international correspondent for The Guardian.
"Not surprised in the slightest with them," one woman responded.
"Totally normal behaviour," said another.
According to the site, it has been a supplier of eight Republican presidential campaigns including Bush Cheney 2000 and Bush Cheney 2004 as well as managing the "successful George W. Bush Online Store".
The website is selling a range of items related to Trump's diagnosis. Photo / File
The online shop also has a bunch of other Trump-related merchandise including mugs that read "Keep America Great" and clue and white "Make America Great Again" caps.
The Trump campaign, separate to the Trump Store America, sold $A5.5 million in merchandise in March and April alone, CBS News reported, adding that its single largest campaign expenditure in March was a nearly $A1.6 million payment to its supplier — Ace Specialties — for "buttons, stickers, hats, signs, and rally signs".
But those retailers hoping to capitalise on Trump's "stand back and stand by" quote during the debate will no longer be able to sell their merchandise on the site.
A company spokesperson confirmed that items with variations of the phrase – which was Trump's message to the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys — have been blocked from the site.
"All sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
Amazon's seller policy prohibits listings on its website for "products that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance or promote organisations with such views."
While Trump claims he was telling the group to cease acts of violence, members took his words as an expression of encouragement, and as of Wednesday, Twitter posts were already appearing with Amazon listings for merchandise with the president's words.
He has since claimed he "does not know" who the Proud Boys while leaving for a campaign event in Minnesota Wednesday.
"I don't know who Proud Boys are. But whoever they are they have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work," he told reporters.
The President came under fire again in June after his re-election campaign started selling merchandise bearing a symbol awkwardly reminiscent of one used by Nazi Germany.
The symbol in question appears on a product called the "America First Tee" which retails for $A40. There's a male and female version of the T-shirt.
It features the words "America First" above an image of an eagle with its wings spread and its talons gripping a circular version of the American flag.
"Show your support for re-electing President Donald J. Trump! Let everyone know who you are voting for in 2020," the product description says.
"We finally have a President that puts AMERICA first. America is strong again, safe again, GREAT again."
The bald eagle was chosen to be the national emblem of the United States all the way back in the 1700s, when the fledgling nation first won its independence from Great Britain.
The Nazis used a symbol called the Reichsadler – Imperial Eagle, in English – as Germany's official national insignia after an edict from Adolf Hitler in 1935.
The similarity between the two symbols did not escaped notice on social media, with some people accusing the Trump campaign of adopting Nazi imagery.
General Michael Hayden, a former director of the CIA, who simply tweeted: "Holy sh*t."
The Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans which has been running ads against the President, also picked up on the comparison.
