Merchandise Surge After Trump Shooting Incident

Following an attempted assassination, a surge in online merchandise featuring Donald Trump has emerged. T-shirts and other items showcasing a bloodied but defiant Trump have gone viral, with sellers in China reporting thousands of orders within hours of the incident.

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has ignited a frenzy of online merchandise, displaying photos of the U.S. presidential candidate moments after being shot. Slogans like "Bulletproof" and "Legends Never Die" accompany these viral items, which range from $9 to $40. T-shirts showing Trump with a clenched fist and bloodstreaked face have particularly caught the public's attention.

Immediately after the shooting, businesses and individual sellers moved quickly to create a variety of products, mainly portraying the Republican candidate as resilient. "The sales exceeded my expectations. I didn't anticipate Trump having so many fans," said Zhong Jiachi, 28, owner of Paxinico, who sold around 40 T-shirts with Trump's image within 24 hours on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Li Jinwei, 25, who sells on Alibaba's Taobao platform, reported producing Trump T-shirts within half a minute at her factory in China. "We listed the T-shirts on Taobao as soon as we saw the news, even before printing, and within three hours, we received over 2,000 orders from both China and the U.S.," she said.

Trump's likeness glaring into the camera, used widely in previous merchandise, mirrors his iconic pose from "The Apprentice," his former reality television show. In 2023, various items like T-shirts, shot glasses, and bobblehead dolls featuring Trump's mugshot were popularized rapidly by both supporters and critics.

On Saturday, Trump supporters and campaigners quickly adopted the image following the shooting. The 20-year-old shooter targeted Trump from a rooftop during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a crucial state for the Nov. 5 election. The former president was hit in the right ear but continues to draw substantial backing ahead of the election.

(With inputs from agencies.)