Walmart has come under fire after T-shirts printed with the words “Impeach 45” were posted on its website, prompting online boycott threats and forcing the retail giant to take down the controversial merchandise.
A campaign under the hashtag #BoycottWalmart was launched on Twitter after customers on Walmart.com spotted men’s shirts and baby onesies brandishing a phrase that called for the impeachment of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States. The products appeared to be made by apparel brand Old Glory, which Walmart explained in a statement was a third-party merchant on its e-commerce marketplace.
Twitter user Ryan Fournier — whose bio describes him as chairman of the Students for Trump organization — was the first to share the now-removed content on his feed. “What kind of message are you trying to send?” he asked in the tweet.
In a statement, a company spokesperson replied: “These items were sold by third-party sellers on our open marketplace and were not offered directly by Walmart. We’re removing these types of items pending review of our marketplace policies.”
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Fournier then urged others to boycott Walmart, garnering nearly 4,800 retweets and 12,600 likes at the time of reporting. “Walmart has the right to sell ‘Impeach 45’ t-shirts, but we as consumers have the right to boycott them for doing it. That’s the beauty of capitalism,” he wrote, adding the hashtag.
Other online items from third-party sellers also express anti-Trump sentiments, including bumper sticks and coffee mugs from other companies, as well as items that promote messages against former President Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. (Although Walmart has already removed the contentious “Impeach 45” clothing, those other items remain online.) The retailer also sells pro-Trump items, from “Make America Great Again” hats to “Trump 2020” T-shirts.
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