Social media users took to Twitter to criticize the Republican National Committee after it offered Black Friday discounts on certain items sold on President Donald Trump’s online store.
According to the Huffington Post , the furor started after the RNC’s official Twitter account posted an advertisement for Black Friday deals available on Trump’s website. At the time of Friday’s post, the deals reportedly included 20 percent discounts on official Trump merchandise for anyone who enters the code “THANKFUL” when checking out their items.
“There’s only one thing better than a Black Friday deal…and that’s a Trump Black Friday deal,” the RNC tweeted.
As of this writing, several items remain listed in the “Deals” section of Donald Trump’s online store . Most of the items are t-shirts with slogans of support for the president and his administration, though there are no specific references to Black Friday or Thanksgiving weekend in that part of Trump’s website.
Prior to the Black Friday advertisement tweets, the RNC used its Twitter account to promote special items for a variety of special occasions, including Trump-themed pet leashes for National Puppy Day and pink items for Mother’s Day, the Huffington Post added.
Following the RNC’s “Trump Black Friday” deals tweet, several Twitter users reacted negatively on the microblogging site, with many commenters accusing the committee of selling out and promoting a conflict of interest. As quoted by the Huffington Post , one user accused Trump of “profiting off the presidency,” while another suggested that “IMPEACHMENT” would be a better discount code to use on the president’s online store.
The RNC hawked discounted Donald Trump merch on Black Friday, and people weren’t happy. https://t.co/8mIN0Taw5i
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) November 24, 2018
“What’s your return policy? America has a Trump item that is damaged and fits very poorly that we don’t want anymore,” read another one of the tweets quoted by the publication.
Although the RNC’s tweet, regardless of the backlash that followed, celebrated Black Friday by offering deals on official Trump-themed items, recent reports have suggested that the president’s ongoing “trade war” with China could result in discounted items becoming more expensive in Black Fridays to come. As previously reported by the Inquisitr , experts fear that Trump’s plans to increase the tariff on Chinese products to 25 percent by 2019 could result in higher prices, possibly starting next spring.
While Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to discuss trade issues next week at the G20 Summit in Argentina, it was noted that negotiations are expected to be challenging, as the “tense words” exchanged between Trump and Xi reportedly led a group of Chinese diplomats to cancel their plans to tackle the issues in Washington prior to the summit.
