In less than a week, the campaign team of Donald Trump, candidate for the Republican primaries, boasts of having raised nearly 3 million dollars thanks to the sale of products derived from the already famous “mug shot” of the former leader in Georgia.
The Republican septuagenarian, known to be an ace of communication, had already marked the last two presidential elections by marketing his red caps “Make America Great Again” – thanks to which his supporters are still recognized today across the United States.
Caps and t-shirts with the mugshot of former US President Donald Trump on sale in a store in Los Angeles, August 30, 2023 in CaliforniaPHOTO AFP / Robyn Beck
The sale of these “goodies” represents an interesting manna for the billionaire as for his rivals, in a country where electoral campaigns are made with billions of dollars.
The 2020 election was the most expensive in US history, and the 2024 election could unsurprisingly surpass that record.
Donald Trump and his red “Make America Great Again” cap, October 14, 2020 Les Minuses, IowaPHOTO AFP / Alex Edelman
The t-shirts, posters and pins offered by the candidates also make it possible “to involve their supporters much more”, who become a kind of “walking advertising billboards” for their campaigns, note to AFP Peter Loge, of the george washington university.
Supporters of Joe Biden, octogenarian president candidate for re-election, can thus obtain a crop top, a top revealing the lower belly, at 32 dollars with “Dark Brandon” – a sort of virtual alias of the laser-eyed leader — a popular “meme” in the Democratic camp.
– From George Washington to Mitt Romney –
The history of campaign “goodies” is closely linked to that of democracy in America: “GW” pins were already distributed for the election of the first president, George Washington, in 1789.
US President Joe Biden at the White House, April 26, 2023 in WashingtonPHOTO AFP / Brendan SMIALOWSKI
“It started with posters and pins, made by the supporters” of the candidates, underlines Jon Grinspan, curator in charge of political history at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian.
Then “in the 20th century, the parties took hold of the concept and we saw a lot of rather light and wacky products arrive”, says the expert to AFP.
Kitchen gloves for Mitt Romney, anti-Bush condoms… Political parties compete for originality in their by-products which become new sources of financing.
– Biden’s fly swatters –
A candidate could never finance his campaign by the sole sale of these goods.
Nikki Haley campaign pins on August 6, 2023 in Cedar Rapids, IowaPHOTO AFP / SCOTT OLSON
But these products, often a little crazy, give politicians the opportunity to exist in a world punctuated by viral moments and little phrases that go around social networks, argues Professor Peter Loge.
“Everything in politics is going faster today,” he analyzes. “And it’s so easy and cheap to produce things.”
Like when Nikki Haley, the only woman in the race for the Republican nomination, declined t-shirts, stickers and posters within hours in response to a comment from a CNN presenter, who felt that the candidate in her fifties was ” more in the prime of life”.
Or when, in October 2020, a fly landed on the white hair of Donald Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence, during a televised debate — a scene that had been a hit for Joe Biden’s campaign , then Democratic candidate for the White House.
A fly on the hair of Vice President Mike Pence, in Salt Lake City, October 7, 2020 in UtahPHOTO AFP / Eric BARADAT
The Democrat’s campaign team immediately put “Truth over Flies” fly swatters on sale for $10 each, raising some $350,000 in 24 hours.
“That’s what we Americans do,” laughs Professor Peter Loge. “We always invent new absurd ways to make money… including with the presidential function”.
2023-09-02 07:15:18
#United #States #goodies #finance #campaigns
