Trump has repeatedly appeared on the covers as The Donald, dressed as a clown, powdered and with a red nose, to mock him and his witticisms. That happened in non-related media. 'Fake news'. Until this Thursday, through a personal and non-transferable initiative, broadcast on his own network, 'Truth Social', he turned himself into a comic book character and fodder for general gossip, regardless of political affiliation.
In his usual bombastic and hyperbolic style, the former president had warmed up. He assured that something big was going to happen, a bombing. Everyone thought it would be something related to his electoral campaign, which he launched a month ago and it seems that he has forgotten, locked up in Mar-a-Lago, entertaining himself by hosting white supremacists and worshipers of the QAnon cult of the extreme right.
“America needs a superhero. Tomorrow, important announcement, ”she posted Wednesday on his website.
There was a bombing, yes, but nothing about the content of the campaign, but a pure desire to collect money for its benefit, which lurks legal bills in the face of so many investigations. His first electoral act for the 2024 presidential elections consisted of entering the world of comics.
He put up for sale online "a collection of official digital cards (NFT) of Donald Trump", at $99 a unit, in which he is portrayed as a superhero, as he advanced, with a cape, belt (Trump champion) and eyes with laser effect, as well as an astronaut, NASCAR racing car driver, western sheriff (shouldered rifle), American football player or adventurer on the back of an elephant, symbol of the Republicans.
“Just when you thought this faker couldn't humiliate himself any more than he already has, here's this. This is the big announcement,” tweeted John Kiriakou, former intelligence officer, CIA inside whistleblower, and writer-turned-writer.
The former president posted a video for the marketing of these objects in which, looking at the camera, he declares that this is an offer from "your favorite president of all time, better than Lincoln, better than Washington." And he specified that he offers some "incredible works of art", portraits and postcards with passages from his "life", where it is clear that he sees himself more as a character than as a person.
In his speech, he reiterated that this is Trump's first sticker collection, "a perfect gift for Christmas." He explains, so that it is understood, that this is like the albums of baseball players, but no album. The package includes the incentive of meetings by zoom, face-to-face meetings and signature of those NFTs that offer their clumsily retouched heads by Photo Shop embedded in slender and manly figures, far from this 76-year-old man, which gives it a touch even more grotesque.
Customers who purchase a pack of 45 cards will receive a ticket to a gala at their luxury resort in South Florida. As he exclaimed on his recording, “$99 doesn't sound like much for what you get!”
But his election campaign won't see a penny from the digital card business, these NFTs that allow the buyer to claim ownership of the digital file. The money will be pocketed by Trump for the license agreements. This is a factor of concern for his collaborators, since they fear that it could cause confusion for admirers and that they will pay for the prints, not sending money for the political struggle.
The affair pointed to ruinous. Trump pointed out that the payment can be made with cryptocurrency, precisely when the virtual money industry is mired in disaster.
Faced with the glamor of the NFT (non-fungible token or non-fungible token) craze, Philip Bump wrote in 'The Washington Post' that this was irresistible to Trump, “a guy who used his name to sell everything from steaks to Water". According to Bump, the former president "is losing the narrative."
As rarely in his political career, his offer had a bipartisan effect: it perplexed opponents, because the grotesque was greater than anything imaginable, and drew criticism from conservative admirers.
The ad landed like a lead balloon, even among die-hard fans. "I can't handle this anymore," lamented Steve Bannon, Trump's chief ideologue, on his 'War room' podcast. "He is one of the best presidents in history, but I must tell you, whatever the business partner is, anyone in the communication team... must give them the settlement," he claimed.
“Whoever told Trump to do this should be fired,” Keith and Kevin Hodge, comedians and Trump supporters, tweeted. "When all the patriots are looking for hope for the future of our country and Trump hypes everyone up with 'a big announcement,' then he puts out a video about a collection of low-quality NFTs that just drives people away," they added.
It allowed President Joe Biden to laugh and, in turn, bring out the pride of the responsible and committed politician in front of his predecessor. “I have some big announcements in the last two weeks,” he remarked. And he cited some of the achievements, such as the drop in inflation and the price of gasoline; the homecoming of basketball player Brittney Griner, after ten months imprisoned in Russia; or the signing of the law to protect same-sex marriages.
“I can only say that those of us who have lost friends, fought with family members, resigned from office, called traitors, who had to leave our (Republican) party, all because we saw that this man (Trump) was a con man, a huckster and a fraud , we have never felt more vindicated," wrote attorney Ron Filipkowski.
Given the silence of the admirers, there were many other opinions of derision. Pure pouting. "Donald Trump's big announcement is that he's selling his own collection of Pokémon," scoffed Santiago Mayer, editor of Voters Tomorrow. Rick Wilson, one of the founders of the Lincoln Project, a group opposed to Trump, added: "Big shame on Trump, rather, right?" The former president is dominated by The Donald.
