Donald Trump Has Made Half A Million Dollars From Plastic Straw Sales
Though social media has endlessly mocked President Trump and his supporters because of the Trump plastic straws, the business mogul has been sipping up profit. According to Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale, Team Trump made close to half a million dollars in sales within the first week.
The straws received a huge amount of interest on the first weekend the implements were sold. Within two days the straws had made $200,000, Market Watch reported.
Then, on Friday, Parscale tweeted that sales had reached nearly $500,000. Part of that high sum is due to the pricey cost of the straws since ten currently retail for $15.
“Liberal paper straws don’t work,” the Trump website reads. “STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today.”
The move to sell straws came about as many cities — including Seattle and Sarasota City — banned the popular utensil as a way to be more friendly toward Earth. Environmentalists have cautioned that straws and other plastic items — such as plastic bags and containers — are often found either in landfills or by invading oceans to create garbage islands. The largest of these “islands” is reportedly twice the size of Texas, according to Business Insider.
However, Trump has said that he believes straws are too insignificant to have a true impact on the environment.
“I do think we have bigger problems than plastic straws,” he said, per ABC News.
“You have a little straw. But what about the plates, the wrappers and everything else that are much bigger, and they’re made of the same material?”
Almost a half million dollars in straw sales! Wow.
Get your recyclable @realDonaldTrump straws today.
Can’t wait to see the pictures of Trump supporters drinking with them!#MakingStrawsGreatAgainhttps://t.co/2jJT3e2oJc
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) July 26, 2019
Trump is not the only politician to have taken advantage of political swag. California Senator Kamala Harris, who is currently running to be the Democratic Presidential nominee for 2020, also recently faced some negative media attention due to her merchandise.
The possible future president hoped to take advantage of a viral debate moment in which she attacked frontrunner Joe Biden regarding his stance on bussing. Per Fox News, Harris explained that she was a beneficiary of the scheme, and was in one of the first integrated classrooms because of bussing.
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public school, and she was bused to school every day. That little girl was me,” she said.
The poignant moment lead to an increase of nearly $2 million in donations in the following 24 hours.
However, Harris soon faced criticism after immediately selling t-shirts with her image and the quote “That little girl was me.” Many found that the quick availability made the viral moment seem “calculated” and “disingenuous.”
