Trump’s 2020 LGBT Pride Merch Resurfaces Amid Right-Wing Boycott Of Pro-LGBT Companies

Conservatives calling for boycotts of companies that have expressed support for the LGBTQ+ community have been accused of hypocrisy after Donald Trump’s 2020 Pride merchandise resurfaced online.

As Trump sought re-election in 2020, his campaign sold rainbow-colored “Make America Great Again” t-shirts and caps on their official campaign store.

“Show your support for the LGBT community and the 45th President with this exclusive Make America Great Again Pride T-shirt,” the listing read.

Many online blasted the right-wing mob for their hypocritical boycotts Bud Light, which partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which came under fire for its LGBTQ+ Pride Month merchandise.

Harry Sisson addressed the hypocrisy in a tweet at the start of Pride month: “Hey Republicans, Why didn’t you care when Donald Trump sold pride merch? You claim Target and other brands with pride collections are ‘targeting kids’ and are ‘satanic’ but your cult leader did it and you had no problem with it. Republicans are a bunch of hypocrites. It was never about the merchandise being sold. It’s always been about their blatant homophobia and opposition to the LGBTQ+ community.”

Hey Republicans,

Why didn’t you care when Donald Trump sold pride merch? You claim Target and other brands with pride collections are “targeting kids” and are “satanic” but your cult leader did it and you had no problem with it.

Republicans are a bunch of hypocrites. It was… pic.twitter.com/xwG2DVGrwn

— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) May 30, 2023

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups blasted Trump at the time for his work to undermine and even eliminate rights protecting LGBTQ+ people while in office (Read the HRC’s full list here).

“The Trump Administration is trying to pull yet another con job on LGBTQ Americans, but like their other desperate ploys, this idea will fall flat,” said GLAAD Chief Programs Officer Zeke Stokes in 2019. “Trump should hold the sales pitch and try issuing a statement honoring June as National Pride Month and the countless of LGBTQ Americans who fought tooth and nail for the level of acceptance our nation sees today.”

Charlotte Clymer, press secretary of rapid response for the Human Rights Campaign, fired off a list of attacks on trans people from the Trump administration—the trans military ban; allowing medical providers to turn away trans patients; rolling back trans student protections; and outlawing the words “transgender” and “diversity” in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Reports.

“From Day One of this administration, Donald Trump and Mike Pence have ruthlessly attacked the rights and livelihoods of LGBTQ people,” Clymer said in 2019. “They have ignored anti-LGBTQ atrocities in Chechnya and anti-trans violence here at home.”

If LGBTQ people want to get outfitted for Pride Month, they should try our collaboration with @ASOS or the new @express collection, both of which benefit our work to accelerate acceptance.

— GLAAD (@glaad) May 23, 2019