Wal-Mart's 'Impeach 45' T-shirt angers Trump supporters

Wal-Mart's 'Impeach 45' shirts have not won any fans among Trump's ardent supporters. Photo/123RF.

Wal-Mart is under fire after its website offered T-shirts from third-party sellers with "IMPEACH 45" emblazoned across the front in big capital letters - a call to bring down the 45th US president, Donald Trump.

The shirts that come in several shades, plus similar baby onesies and even frisbees, spurred a grassroots call to boycott the world's biggest retailer. The hashtag #BoycottWal-Mart began trending on Twitter.

The T-shirts weren't being sold by Wal-Mart itself, but by third-party sellers including Old Glory and Teespring Inc. Such sellers can sign up to advertise products on Wal-Mart's website, and the retail giant gets a commission on each sale. As news outlets began to report on the shirts, the original listings were no longer available.

"We carry over 10,000 politically inspired T-shirts dealing with all aspects of politics, from liberal to conservative thought," Glenn Morelli, president of Old Glory, said. "We are an American company and we are proud to be American, and this is what we do: We sell T-shirts for a living."

Not that I needed another reason to Boycott Walmart, but they just gave me one and solidified it for me.#BoycottWalmart #istandwithtrump pic.twitter.com/WJLPCBIs8u

— Deplorable in the Valley (@DennisNDee) July 3, 2018

Old Glory, which was founded in 1969 and makes its T-shirts in Westbrook, Conn., received "a couple thousand" orders of the impeachment apparel on Tuesday alone, accounting for about half of the day's sales, Morelli said. Old Glory has sold more pro-Trump shirts than anti-Trump ones since the president has taken office, he said.

A spokesman for Wal-Mart didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sellers on the website offer a slew of other politicised products, including "IMPEACH OBAMA" and "IMPEACH NIXON" license plates, though some of those listings also appeared to be removed. Amazon.com has oodles of impeachment merchandise, too, including "Impeach 45" football jerseys, tank tops and sweatshirts.

Last year, Wal-Mart came under fire after a third-party seller offered T-shirts that suggested killing journalists. The T-shirts read: "Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required."

- Bloomberg