Donald Trump campaign reportedly makes $7million from mugshot merch

29 August, 2023

It has been speculated that Donald Trump’s campaign has made $7million (£5.6million) from selling merchandise with his mugshot on.

The mugshot went instantly viral last week, ​​when the former US president surrendered in Georgia on charges of plotting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results on Thursday (August 24).

He then had to pay a bail bond of $200,000 (£160,000) to be released from the Atlanta jail, and now awaits trial. He later described the case as “a travesty of justice” and shared his mugshot to X (formerly Twitter) with a link to his campaign fundraising site.

Less than two hours after the mugshot was taken, the entrepreneur’s online campaign began selling merchandise, which had the historic photograph printed on it. This included mugs, koozies, t-shirts and signed mug shot posters.

Now, it has been reported by outlets such as Politico and NBC News that the merchandise brought in an alleged $7.1million for his campaign and gave him his largest single-day fundraising paycheck yet.

Additionally, according to NBC, the campaign has allegedly made $19 million (£15million) in fundraising since Trump pleaded not guilty three and a half weeks ago to a separate set of charges, claiming he engaged in criminal conspiracies aimed at subverting the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“Organic money has skyrocketed,” said Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign. “Especially after President Trump tweeted out the picture along with the website.”

Trump’s campaign is not the only thing making money from the former president’s photograph, however. This comes as, after the mugshot went viral, pop-punk heavyweights Green Day began selling merchandise with the image, and all proceeds went to charity.

The t-shirt, titled ‘Ultimate Nimrod’, was available for a limited amount of time, with money raised being used to “bring food to those affected by the Maui wildfires”. Green Day teamed up with the Greater Good Music Charity for the cause.

Green Day performs onstage during the Harley-Davidson's Homecoming Festival - Day 1 at Veterans Park on July 14, 2023 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty
Green Day performs onstage during the Harley-Davidson’s Homecoming Festival – Day 1 at Veterans Park on July 14, 2023 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty

The limited-run t-shirt was available for just 72 hours, was available here for $35 (£27).

Trump has 13 charges against him, which include racketeering, soliciting a public official to violate his oath of office, conspiracy to impersonate a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery, and making false statements. He denies all of the counts against him.

Following his arrest and eventual release on Thursday, he told reporters that he was entitled to challenge the result of a vote (via BBC News). “I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election,” said Trump, who has made numerous unfounded claims of widespread ballot fraud in 2020. “And I should have every right to do that.”

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