This Season’s Anti-Trump Attire
The Trump campaign truly is the gift that keeps on giving and we’re feeling extra #thankful during this holiday season for all it has contributed to our lives. It seems like just yesterday that we were blessed with the now infamous, ever-so-classy “Make America Great Again” trucker hats. Reports uncovered by New York Magazine speculate that Trump may have spent almost twice as much money on hats as he did on polling (because priorities come first, that’s why). Plus, apparently wearing them at polls can get you arrested, as one unfortunate Texas voter found out (Note: the arrest was not made under the grounds that the hats are horrendously tacky). Political merch has always been a popular medium for voters to rep their candidates or parties during voting season. However, it seems this election more than ever, political attire’s rise in popularity has escalated as greatly as the tensions between the two main party candidates. In a race that has been tainted by petty comments, public anger and shameful scandals, voters seem to be mimicking the behavior of our political candidates by using their clothing to insult each other. Google “anti-Trump clothing,” or “anti-Hillary clothing,” and literally thousands of homemade t-shirts, listing catchy slogans and homemade graphics appear instantaneously. Most notably are the “IDK Not Trump Tho” and “Clinton|Kaine, because they’re not insane,” slogans which take jabs at certain select voters.
This heated election even has celebrities such as Amy Schumer, Katy Perry and George Clooney, rallying openly for Hillary Clinton to make history as the nation’s first-ever female president. On Friday night, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Chance the Rapper, and other hip hop artists performed at Clinton’s political rally in Cleveland, Ohio, with Beyoncé sharing a particularly inspiring pro-Hillary speech. Metro Boomin’, a popular hip-hop producer who’s known for his popular tag, “If young metro don't trust you I’m gon shoot you,” gained notoriety when he took to Twitter in February to say he doesn’t trust Trump. Last week, he released a limited edition anti-Trump line, featuring “Fuck Trump” t-shirts, just in time for his “Young Metro Don’t Trust Trump” Concert that will be taking place in New York City November 4.
As a result of Trump’s candidacy, his daughter’s fashion label, Ivanka Trump (which is a subsidiary of his own business) has even faced boycotts by consumers and has been pulled by several retail stores. One angry protester even penned an open letter to Nordstrom, asking them to defend carrying the line in their stores. To mimic the intense hatred that has fueled this election, it appears that being “pro-Hillary/Trump” has become more synonymous with being “anti-Hillary/Trump.” Maybe in the post-election world, we’ll see all the merch from this year in dollar store clearance bins, or one day your kids will find your old “Make America Great Again” visor and wear it ironically to a party. With the election coming to a close, all that’s for certain is that it’s been a hell of a ride.