Souvenir t-shirts picturing the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump have already gone on sale.
The t-shirts use an image of a defiant Trump raising his fist in the air while blood dripped down his cheek from his ear, as Secret Service agents tried to rush him off the stage.
Chinese e-commerce websites are selling T-shirts and tote bags printed with the bloodied face of Donald Trump after the former president survived an apparent assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
China’s social media channels exploded with speculation after the country’s state media broke news of the incident early the next day, shortly before the Chinese Foreign Ministry said President Xi Jinping “expressed sympathies to former President Trump,” who Beijing described as “injured by shooting” at the campaign event in Butler.
On Taobao and other e-commerce websites, T-shirt makers began selling clothing carrying a widely shared photograph of a fist-pumping Trump, taken just moments after gunshots rang out at the Butler Farm Show rally and as Secret Service agents tried to whisk him away from the stage.
The $8 T-shirt was just one of hundreds of items of Trump merchandise that have been sold in China for years, and which last year included his mugshot.
T-shirt makers in the United States also appeared to have used the photograph taken by Evan Vucci of The Associated Press.
Just over 2 hours after Donald Trump was shot at during a rally in Pennsylvania, Chinese online retailers started selling souvenir T-shirts with photos printed on them capturing the moment just after the former president escaped the assassination attempt.
Taobao seller Li Jinwei said, “We put the T-shirts on Taobao as soon as we saw the news about the shooting, though we hadn’t even printed them, and within three hours we saw more than 2,000 orders from both China and the US.”
The speed of production and sales was enabled by the use of digital printing technology, which allowed the T-shirts to be printed and listed for sale very quickly.
One product, which was on sale for $22.95, had a shot of a bloodied Trump raising his fist in defiance with the words “you can’t kill Trump” above the image.
[…] TeePublic, an online marketplace that allows creators to see their products, was also showing commemorative clothing for sale on Sunday morning.
The site was selling the signature image of Trump thrusting his hand into the air after the attack on tank tops, hoodies, crewneck sweatshirts, and baseball shirts.
One seller on online shop Etsy, based in Colorado, had the same image on a white t-shirt, listed for £18.28 as “Donald Trump Assassination Attempt Shirt”. Another similar product was listed as “Trump Bloody Ear.”
