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.
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.”
Other tweeters were simply baffled by the “premature” messaging of the coin, given that Trump is yet to be released from hospital.
Author Nick Hurwitch quipped about Trump potentially getting a memorial coin, for a less flashy ailment, like gout.
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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