Bangkok (AP):
Photos of that moment have already appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world and all over the Internet: former President Donald Trump, shot, bleeding from his ear, clutching his right hand above his head as Secret Service agents surround him.
And now, T-shirts can be purchased for just $4 on Chinese e-commerce platforms.
Chinese retailers took action over the weekend on the country’s two biggest e-commerce platforms, Taobao and JD.com, seeking to profit from images following the attempted assassination of President Trump at Saturday’s rally.
According to screenshots circulating online, one T-shirt read, “Make America Great Again,” while another said, “Shooting makes me stronger.”
The shirts featured a variety of photos capturing the moment, including one of the most memorable images taken by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci.
While the rest of the world may recognize the power of images, Chinese manufacturers are in a particularly advantageous position to quickly jump on trends and turn them into products. China’s factories are among the best in the world, and the country’s e-commerce industry is fiercely competitive, meaning smaller retailers are well-positioned to capitalize on all kinds of consumer product trends.
By Monday, many of the T-shirts were no longer easy to find: a search for “Trump T-shirt” on JD turned up no results, while other Trump T-shirts showed up on Taobao.
But when asked, some stores were able to provide hidden links to their products, and for a time, other shirts were also available by searching for Trump’s Chinese nickname.
It’s unclear why the shirt was hidden, but China’s internet is largely isolated from the rest of the world and controlled by an extensive censorship system that also monitors online commerce sites, and using the image could raise copyright concerns.
“The Associated Press is proud of Evan Vucci’s photographs and recognizes their impact,” said Lauren Easton, AP’s vice president for corporate communications. “Furthermore, we reserve the rights to this powerful image.”
An Associated Press reporter was able to order a shirt printed with a photo of that moment for 61 yuan ($8), even though the original link said the shirt was no longer for sale. A customer service representative said it was against the rules, without elaborating, but then provided a link to order the shirt.
Another Taobao shop, when asked if they had a T-shirt showing Trump being shot, was selling five different T-shirts based on photos from Saturday’s rally, priced at 34.9 yuan ($4).
At one point on Monday, a search containing “Founding Trump” turned up stores selling T-shirts with photos of the rally printed on them, but that effect faded as the day went on.
“Trump Jianguo” began to be used as a nickname on the Chinese internet during Trump’s presidency. Jianguo means “building the country” and was a name often given to patriotic men in the early days of the Chinese Communist Party in the 1950s and 1960s. The nickname was a derisive response from people who felt that some of Trump’s policies were actually helping China, despite his fiery rhetoric.
Chinese entrepreneurs have long done brisk business using Trump’s name, and during the 2020 election many of the candidate’s products were made in the Chinese wholesale center of Yiwu.
Alibaba and JD.com, which owns Taobao, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
