Conservatives calling for boycotts of brands that express support for the LGBTQ+ community have been accused of hypocrisy after Donald Trump's Pride range of merchandise resurfaced on social media.

In 2020, the former president sold rainbow-colored "Make America Great Again" t-shirts and caps in his campaign store so that people could show their "support for the LGBT community and the 45th president."

Its re-emergence follows backlash against several brands in recent months including Bud Light, which partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which came under fire for its LGBTQ+ Pride Month merchandise.

While experts have said such campaigns provide an opportunity for brands to appeal to consumers in new markets, critics have accused those companies of alienating their traditional customer base. The controversies sit at the heart of a culture war and feed into a broader debate about the acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in public life.

Trump has previously appeared supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, writing in May 2019, on the eve of that year's Pride Month, that he recognized "the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great nation," and urged supporters to "stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation."

At the time, his detractors described such support as "cynical," with political commentator Michelangelo Signorile writing for NBC News that his LGBTQ+ merchandise was "monumentally hypocritical and insulting."

On Monday evening, Harry Sisson, a politics student and self-described Democrat, who previously contributed to the Institute for Youth in Policy, tweeted: "Hey Republicans, why didn't you care when Donald Trump sold pride merch?"

"Republicans are a bunch of hypocrites. It was never about the merchandise being sold. It's always been about their blatant homophobia and opposition to the LGBTQ+ community," he added, in a post that as of 10 a.m. ET Tuesday has been viewed nearly 840,000 times.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment.

However, many on social media rejected the accusation of hypocrisy, claiming that their issue with the recent advertising campaigns was because they were targeted at children.

Target's pride range included rainbow-colored children's clothes, a T-shirt with the slogan "trans people will always exist," and a onesie with the words "bien proud" in the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag.

In a statement to Newsweek on May 23, Kayla Castaneda, a spokesperson for the retail giant, said it would be removing certain items from the range that had been the focus of "threats" towards staff. "Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community," she said in the statement.

Specifically, the retailer would review a line of swimsuits marketed for its ability to "tuck" genitalia for transgender women, Reuters reported.

"There's nothing wrong with Trump selling pride merchandise," a Twitter user responded to Sisson. "But did he sell 'tuck-friendly' swimwear for children?"

As the Associated Press has noted in a fact-check, the "tuck-friendly" swimsuits were only sold in adult sizes, and so were not marketed for children.

"MAGA has no problem overall with this," another Twitter user said of the MAGA pride merch. "The outrage is over a completely separate issue targeting children. Thanks for trying."

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jp2mp5mcmXq1vtSmp2aoop6xpnnMnqmcoJGjsaq%2FxGarmqqXmsFurtSdZKWhl53Bbq7AnKKlmaOdenKEj2xqbms%3D