A commemorative coin hailing Donald Trump’s “defeat” of Covid-19 has sparked accusations of greed and bad taste, as outraged netizens failed to realize that the coin is being sold by a private gift shop, not the administration.
The new coin, sold by the ‘White House Gift Shop’ is part of a series called “Historic moments in history,” with the moment in question being Trump’s “defeating Covid.” Such a milestone, however, has yet to occur, as the president is still quarantined at the Walter Reed Medical Center – but with pre-orders shipping from November 14, the store is apparently confident of Trump’s full recovery.
The White House Gift Shop, which was established in 1946 under the Truman administration, was originally connected to the White House itself, but has since been taken over by a private company – and has no connection to Trump or the current administration.
The shop was established in 1946 as a benefit fund for police and authorized by Harry Truman, it became the White House Police Benefit Fund and the White House Gift Shop in 1950. It’s not a government agency and in 2016 it was transferred to private hands. https://t.co/dJq2g3GdcU
That was a point that seemed to be lost on many of the president’s critics on Twitter, however. Many anti-Trump voices quickly chastized him for “making money” off his Covid-19 diagnoses. Liberal actress Debra Messing was among the most high profile voices to rage against the coins, slamming the president as a “malignant, vile, narcissistic Monster.”
Trump is MAKING MONEY OFF OF HIS COVID.?”President Trump Defeats COVID Commemorative Coin.?He is a malignant, vile, narcissistic Monster. #TrumpLied200KDiedpic.twitter.com/DApp2VdeM9
They’re already selling Trump-defeats-Covid coins in his campaign store [$100 a pop].
Other tweeters were simply baffled by the “premature” messaging of the coin, given that Trump is yet to be released from hospital.
Coin feels premature. Let him actually recover first.
Isn’t it a little early to be selling “trump defeats covid” commemorative coins? pic.twitter.com/z02Op9he5e
Author Nick Hurwitch quipped about Trump potentially getting a memorial coin, for a less flashy ailment, like gout.
Donald J Trump Defeats Gout Commemorative Coin
There isn’t yet an image available of the $100 collectible, but designer Anthony Giannini says it will be stylized as “superhero graphic art,” inspired by mythology, “not unlike the Epic of Gilgamesh.”
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