News from a Newark, New Jersey, hat manufacturing company might be the best thing we hear all week: Trump's reputation might be recessing into the shadows of his ancestral, less elite sounding surname. According to the plant's sales, John Oliver's parodic "Make Donald Drumpf Again" hats have become more popular than the businessman and GOP front-runner's "Make America Great Again" hats. Unionwear, the only unionized baseball cap manufacturing plant, said that Donald Drumpf hats have become a huge hit among customers. What a glorious day this is.
In February, HBO's Last Week Tonight host John Oliver premiered a new campaign that capitalizes on Trump's ancestral surname, Drumpf. Unlike the candidate's current last name, which is attached to all of his business ventures, Drumpf doesn't necessarily have a pleasant ring to it. In hopes that America would drop their "Make America Great Again" hats and opt out of supporting a man Oliver describes as a "serial liar," the host began selling his "Make Donald Drumpf Again" hats. Two weeks after pitching the idea, Oliver appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and revealed that thus far, he has sold 35,000 hats. According to Oliver, even Jay Z was on board with the anti-Trump campaign:
Apparently Jay Z’s people called HBO asking for a hat. I’ll say this for a start: buy the hat, Jay Z. Jay Z wanted one for free. He’s done very well — spring for a hat. Let it trickle down. That’s how economics works, right?
Apparently, Oliver warned HBO to be prepared if they decide to send Jay Z a hat. There is such a thing as too much popularity, leaving us wondering whether production will be able to meet the high demand for the famed hats. Added Oliver,
I did say, ‘Well, be careful, because if he puts that on in public, you’re gonna need more hats.' And if his wife puts it on in public, we are no longer a TV show, we’re a hat-manufacturing company.
And that's where Unionwear comes into the picture. Mitch Cahn, the president of the baseball cap manufacturing company, told NJ.com that campaign hat sales are one of the best ways to gauge a candidate's popularity in the race. If that's true, then Drumpf has become insanely popular. Cahn added that other hats that read "Make Donald Debate Again" and "Make America Gay Again" have been in high demand as well.
Unionwear is the only unionized hat manufacturing company, but it's not the only one employed by Trump to manufacture "Make America Great Again" hats. In November 2015, The Guardian profiled a Southern California manufacturing plant that was paid more than $270,000 by Trump's campaign to produce the hats in bulk. The candidate's decision to recruit the Cali-Fame manufacturing company poses another problem that may hurt Trump's reputation in the future. After proposing that America deport illegal immigrants and build a wall along Mexico's border, he chose to have his campaign merchandise produced by Mexican immigrants. Yolanda Melendrez is one of those immigrant workers who helps manufacture "Make America Great Again" hats daily. According to Melendrez,
When we first got the order [for the Trump hats], I said to myself, ‘Just wait until he sees who’s making his hats. We’re Latinos, we’re Mexicans, Salvadoreños.'
Currently, Oliver's parodic hats are sold out, but surely more are being manufactured. The HBO page provides an "email me when this item is available" option so that you can get your hands on the epic apparel as soon as supply catches up with the demand.
Image: HBO Store
