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Organizers for the Donald Trump camp have been turning American Apparel products into Trump merch, and the L.A. based company is none too happy about it, reports The Slot, Jezebel's political offshoot. The merch has been spotted at vendors at the Republican National Convention.
The conflict of interest(s) is obvious. American Apparel is not quiet about its pro-immigration stance. As noted by Quartz, the company has employed thousands of undocumented workers. In 2009 it was forced to let go of approximately 1,800 employees when a federal investigation found "irregularities" in the identity documents that workers had presented when they were hired, the New York Times reported.
American Apparel is also noted for their other left-leaning stances. I mean, did no one on Trump's campaign take note of this?
Or what about these shirts that riff off the "No H8" movement?
As reported by Women's Wear Daily, American Apparel caught wind of Trump's use of their products. A spokesperson then confirmed the company's non-affiliation with the Republican presidential candidate: "American Apparel is a company that stands for inclusiveness, as is evidenced by our campaigns tackling issues such as immigration reform, discrimination, marriage and gender equality."
Though, the spokesperson added, American Apparel has no control over the situation because they sell their products wholesale to different vendors, and it's up to the vendors to do whatever they want with the products. "Because we believe in free trade, we sell our American-made T-shirts to thousands of screen printers across the country, allowing them to sell to any customers they choose."
But does Trump even care about where the attire is coming from? Or who's actually making them? Apparently not. Those infamous "Make America Great Again" ballcaps that Trump sports are actually made in a Carson factory that largely employs, you guessed it, Latino workers. Also, as noted at Buzzfeed, Trump's very own fashion line—the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection—had been manufactured overseas in places like China and, yeah, Mexico.
So is Trump sweating over the hypocrisy of using American Apparel for his merchandising? Probably not. At the very least, these products are actually made in the U.S of A. So he's got one thing going for him.
