• Fans of President Trump offered a discount, too,
TOLEDO, Ohio — During the holidays, some families try as hard to avoid politics as they do overcooking the turkey.
But the Trump Make America Great Again Committee is embracing them and, for the second year in a row, is capitalizing on political loyalties with a Black Friday sale through its online store.
The online shop is pushing an advertised 30 percent discount through Sunday. Fans of President Donald Trump — or those buying for someone on Team Trump — can get pint glasses and coffee mugs, a Make America Great Again hat in tiny ornament form, and a Christmas version of the red hat complete with multicolored embroidered lights and the wish “Merry Christmas” — not “Happy Holidays” — displayed on the back.
Many Trump campaign supporters received an email or text message on Friday advising them to use the code “giving” when they check out of the online store.
For those shopping for political junkies on the other side of the aisle, the Democratic National Committee has its own online store. Gift options include anti-Trump buttons, a magnet praising the Affordable Care Act, and a rainbow White House Tshirt in support of marriage equality. The DNC store did not appear to be having a Black Friday sale.
Mr. Trump’s merchandising has fueled small-dollar donors, who give $200 or less to a committee.
Federal Election Commission filings show they have contributed $14 million through the end of September to the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which receives the proceeds fromthe online store.
How much of that money comes from the sale of merchandise doesn’t have to be disclosed. Proceeds of the sales benefit Mr. Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee.
His campaign committee pays for the merchandise it sells. Through September, it spent $1.5 million on Tshirts, mugs, signs, medals, coins and other items, according to FEC records.
Mr. Trump trademarked the phrase “Make America Great Again” in 2012 and assigned ownership of it to his campaign committee in July 2015, according to records at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Block News Alliance consists of the Pittsburgh PostGazette, The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, and TV station WDRB in Louisville, Ky. Sarah Elms is a reporter for The Blade.