Trump Campaign Selling Out Of Straws Expects To Raise $500k From Them By Next Week
Last week, President Donald Trumps 2020 re-election campaign began selling red plastic straws with his name on them.
Liberal paper straws dont work, a description for the straws read on the Trump campaign merchandise website. The straws are available for $15 for a pack of 10.
My former colleague Philip Wegmann reported at RealClearPolitics that the campaign had originally ordered 200,000 straws but sold out of them quickly and had to order more. A campaign official told Real Clear that sales are expected to exceed $500,000 as early as next week. Tim Murtaugh, the campaigns communications director, told Real Clear that the paper straw is universally hated.
People feel like they have been lectured to, and told they cant use plastic straws, you know, the kind that actually work, he added.
Murtaugh also told the outlet that the campaign intended to sell the straws as a proxy for conservatives annoyance with Big Government and political correctness.
It is a great marketing stroke which coincides very much with the presidents disdain for political correctness and dictating how people live their daily lives, he said. These straws are a perfect marriage of the Trump approach to things and of Trump-marketing. It just works.
The straws have become an apparent phenomenon, according to Murtaugh.
The apparent success of the Trump straws has led to scalpers selling the straws on eBay for as much as $359, Real Clear reported.
President’s Reelection Campaign Hauls In $200000 Selling Plastic Trump Straws
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale that the president’s reelection campaign sold more than 140,000 straws which are listed on the president’s campaign site at $15 a pop.
“That is over $200,000 raised. More than half of all Straw purchasers were BRAND NEW small dollar donors. Amazing!” said Parscale. The campaign lists the pack of straws with the following caption:
“Liberal paper straws don’t work. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today.”
The sale comes more states are banning plastic straws in restaurants and replacing them with compostable or paper options in an effort to protect ocean and sea life, while reducing stress on American landfills.
Straws are the seventh-most common trash item found on beaches, thanks to the massive amounts American use — about 500 million a day, according to the National Park Service.
Trump, however has rolled back much of President Obama’s environmental policies over the course of his time in office, including withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement and ending regulations like the Clean Power Plan. The president has also expressed skepticism about government research that shows a warming planet and potentially catastrophic consequences if the trend continues.
Asked if he supports a ban on plastic straws, the president told reporters last week “we have bigger problems than plastic straws.”
In Other News
Trump Campaign Is Now Selling Plastic Straws To Own The Libs
As California and other places around the country implement bans on plastic drinking straws, the Trump 2020 campaign is taking a different approach.
The campaign is now selling Trump Straws in packs of 10 for $15. The plastic straws are red and say Trump. The campaigns merchandise website states that Liberal paper straws dont work, and describes the straws as:
BPA free
Pack of 10 identical straws as shown
Laser engraved
Made in USA
Newsweek spoke to Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar, who told the outlet: Donald Trump has based his entire presidency on lies and divisiveness, so it is no surprise that he is selling plastic straws because his presidency is a cheap throwaway with disastrous long term consequences.
Hocevar claimed Trump has either missed the point or is outwardly lying to his base. He added: The vast majority of plastic straws are not recycled in the U.S., which means they end up incinerated, piling up in landfills, or polluting our oceans.
But that hasnt stopped environmentalists from latching onto the figure and using it to push unnecessary bans in cities across the country.
On Friday, Trump mocked the focus on plastic straws in major cities.
I do think we have bigger problems than plastic straws, Trump said. You know, its interesting about plastic straws: so, you have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers, and everything else that are much bigger and theyre made of the same material?
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Trump Reelection Campaign Rakes In Nearly $500000 Selling Plastic Straws
President Donald Trumps reelection campaign has made nearly half a million dollars selling red plastic straws emblazoned with his name, his base apparently lapping up the new merch.
Last week, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale shared the update in a tweet advertising the straws, which went on sale just 10 days ago on July 19.
Cant wait to see the pictures of Trump supporters drinking with them, he wrote.
Almost a half million dollars in straw sales! Wow. Get your recyclable straws today. Cant wait to see the pictures of Trump supporters drinking with them!#MakingStrawsGreatAgain
Brad Parscale
According to a Politico report published Monday, the campaign confirmed that it had raised more than $456,000 from the straws.
The idea, the outlet said, came to Parscale when he was on a flight to Florida sipping ice tea through a paper straw when it tore in two.
Irked by the mishap, Parscale turned it into a political point on Twitter, declaring, Im so over paper straws, which he blamed on liberal progress.
This is exactly what they would do to the economy as well. Squeeze it until it doesnt work.
Im so over paper straws. #LiberalProgressThis is exactly what they would do to the economy as well. Squeeze it until it doesnt work.
Brad Parscale
Hours later, Republican National Committee spokesperson Elizabeth Harrington tweeted that they were sold out.
Why People With Disabilities Want Bans On Plastic Straws To Be More Flexible
This is hardly the first time Trump has tried transform such an issue into a partisan wedge and has especially taken glee time and time again in mocking environmental initiatives, such as the Green New Deal. He has also cast doubt on the reality of climate change. And it could also be his way of trying to distract from yet another rough week politically in the wake of his racist attacks on four Democratic freshmen congresswomen of color.
The scourge of paper straws, however, isn’t just a conservative issue, as Trump’s campaign wants to frame it. Earlier this week, Sacha Haworth of the liberal opposition research group American Bridge 21st Century tweeted her own frustrations with paper straws.
Sacha Haworth
This also isn’t the first time that efforts to make disposable dinnerware greener have been used as a political cudgel. After Democrats flipped the House in 2006, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed to phase out plastic foam in the Capitol cafeterias and bring in “corn-based, compostable dishes and utensils,” according to The Hill. But when Republicans won back the House in 2010, they brought back the nonrecyclable plastic foam.
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Trump Campaign Selling Branded Plastic Straws As Alternative To ‘liberal Paper Straws’
Liberal paper straws dont work. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today, reads the straws product description on the presidents campaign website.
The red, BPA-free, reusable straws are made in America and come in a pack of 10 for $15 and are laser engraved with Trumps name, according to the website.
Brad Parscale
Multiple cities have limited or banned single-use plastic straws. California in 2019 enacted rules limiting the straws to curb plastic pollution, and Seattle has banned them completely.
Businesses including McDonalds and Starbucks have also worked to use fewer plastic straws, with the fast-food coffee chain eliminating them completely from their stores by 2020.
Donald Trump Jr.
Others took to Twitter to comment on the product, with one journalist joking that sea turtles are underrepresented in the Electoral College.”
Sea turtles are under-represented in the Electoral College
David Frum
I thought it was a joke, but its true…the Trump campaign is selling plastic straws. Liberal paper straws dont work.
Trump Campaign Is Selling Plastic Straws To Make Straws Great Again
“Now you can finally be free from liberal paper straws that fall apart within minutes and ruin your drink.”
The campaign to re-elect President Donald Trump has found a new way to troll liberals and sea turtles.
The campaign website is selling packs of 10 plastic straws for $15, Trump re-election campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted on Thursday, as USA Today reported.
Liberal paper straws dont work. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today, the straws description reads.
Brad Parscale
Parscale further promoted the straws in an email Friday titled Make Straws Great Again, NPR reported.
Im so over paper straws, and Im sure you are too. Much like most liberal ideas, paper straws dont work and they fall apart instantly. Thats why we just launched our latest productOfficial Trump Straws, Parscale wrote. Now you can finally be free from liberal paper straws that fall apart within minutes and ruin your drink.
Calls to ban plastic straws increased after a video of a turtle with a straw stuck up its nose went viral. Cities like Seattle have passed restrictions, and companies including Starbucks have vowed to phase them out. California became the first state to ban them in sit-down restaurants last September.
me trying to use a paper straw, every single time
Mark Berman
When asked about straw bans on Friday, Trump gave an answer that was oddly reasonable, according to The Guardian.
Kaya Jones
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Inside Donald Trump’s ‘brilliant And Sinister’ Merchandising Operation
The reelection campaign is raking in millions selling everything from Trump plastic straws to Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff T-shirts.
Brad Parscale had just boarded a Jet Blue flight earlier this month when the paper straw he was using ripped in half.
As he tried to keep his iced tea from spilling onto his suit, the annoyed Trump campaign manager tweeted that he was so over paper straws. Prodded by his wife not to leave it at that, Parscale emailed his staff from the air with an idea: Lets sell plastic Trump straws.
In short order, the campaign sent an email to supporters with the subject line, Making straws great again. By the time Parscale landed in Florida, the presidential straws were already in production and an advertising campaign was up and running. The first batch sold out within hours.
The ploy was part of a strategy to stoke and validate the grievances of Trumps base and then turn them into hard cash. The effort centers around novelty merchandise items the reelection campaign has been hawking on its website, including Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff T-shirts lampooning the Democratic congressman and Trump antagonist as a clown I Spy Trump tees and tanks depicting the commander in chief being snooped on by former President Barack Obama and, most recently, the plastic straws. The Trump 2020 online store has marketed the offering as an alternative to the more environmentally friendly liberal paper straws that dont work.
Yes The Trump Campaign Is Selling Plastic Trump Straws
Conservative media outlets have circulated articles claiming that President Donald Trumps 2020 campaign is selling plastic straws with the presidents name on them.
“Triggering leftists, Trump’s reelection campaign is selling plastic straws,” reads a headline from one of the outlets, PJ Media, on July 20, 2019.
One website, PoliticalCowboy.com, praises the merchandise as “brilliant, hilarious and timely” and mentions that “bans on single-use plastics are all the rage in leftist circles today.” LouderWithCrowder.com described Trumps “troll game” as “top notch.”
These posts were flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. We wondered if the headlines were really true.
Yes, it is. Red straws etched with the white lettering of “Trump” are available in a pack of 10 on the Trump 2020 online collection of campaign merchandise.
“Liberal paper straws dont work. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today,” reads the description of the straws.
The campaign told PolitiFact that the straws were added to the online store last week.
Local and state governments, such as Seattle and California, have enacted restrictions on single-use plastic straws. Alternative straws, such as paper ones, are being sold in affected areas like San Francisco.
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We rate this headline True.
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Us Has ‘bigger Problems’ Than Plastic Straws
2 Min Read
WASHINGTON – With plastic straw bans gaining popularity to protect the environment, President Donald Trump on Friday posed the question: What about other plastic dining items?
I do think we have bigger problems than plastic straws, he told reporters on the White House South Lawn prior to leaving for a weekend in New Jersey.
On a 96-degree day, Trump warmed to the subject.
You know, its interesting about plastic straws: So, you have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers, and everything else that are much bigger and theyre made of the same material? he pondered.
Everybody focuses on the straws. Theres a lot of other things to focus on, he added.
Trumps comments coincided with the launch of Trump-branded plastic straws on his online store at $15 for a pack of 10. Much like most liberal ideas, paper straws dont work and they fall apart instantly, his campaign said.
Plastic straw bans and restrictions have been proposed or enacted in U.S. cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City as part of a growing movement to reduce single-use plastics such as cutlery, cups and bags.
According to the United Nations, more than 60 countries have bans or taxes on single-use plastics.
Plastic straws are one of the top contributors to marine pollution, environmental groups say. Starbucks plans to eliminate plastic straws at its stores globally by 2020.
Reporting By Steve Holland Editing by Cynthia Osterman
Liberal Paper Drinking Straws Useless Says Top Aide
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Donald Trumps re-election campaign has pocketed nearly $500,000 through the sale of branded plastic straws, the presidents top aide has said.
The 9in, laser-engraved drinking aids are reusable, recyclable and BPA free, according to Mr Trumps website.
Supporters can buy a pack of 10 red straws with the presidents name in black for $15 .
Brad Parscale, Mr Trumps 2020 re-election campaign manager, said in a tweet that sales had netted nearly $500,000 so far.
Liberal paper straws dont work, reads the product page. STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today.
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