Walmart drew the anger of Donald Trump supporters over a set of merchandise bearing the phrase “Impeach 45” — before removing the items from its website.
The phrase has become a common one on social media among Democrats and Trump critics, and was recently quoted by California Rep. Maxine Waters at the Families Belong Together March in Los Angeles.
Now “Impeach 45” is a phrase on shirts and infant onesies sold on Walmart’s website, and has angered Trump supporters after Students for Trump chairman Ryan Fournier called attention to it on Twitter.
.@walmart why are you selling Impeach 45 baby clothes on your website?????
What kind of message are you trying to send? https://t.co/PwI4nCVAZx
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) July 3, 2018
Within hours of the boycott call on Tuesday, Walmart appeared to have pulled the items from its website. Existing links to the “Impeach 45” merchandise now route to a dead page which reads, “The page you are looking for could not be found” (see screenshot below).
Representatives for the company did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The shirt, which was sold by the apparel company Old Glory, hasn’t been the only impeachment merch being sold on the site. CafePress has had “Impeach Trump” shirts, caps and throw pillows available on Walmart.com. Manateez Apparel has also had their own “Impeach 45” shirt, while a button with Trump’s face and the phrase “Impeach the Peach” was also listed on the site.
In response, Trump supporters, who have started boycott campaigns in the past against companies that have dropped Trump products, have started a #BoycottWalmart hashtag.
This isn’t the first time that Trump-related politics have led to a backlash against Walmart, though such backlash has also come from the other side. Last November, Walmart drew ire over a shirt on its site that sported the phrase “Rope. Tree. Journalist. Some assembly required.”
After complaints, custom shirt company Teespring removed the shirt from the site.