The Mug Shot
The most famous picture in history … if history started two days ago
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office released Donald Trump's mug shot on Thursday, and instantly, the Anti-Trump ResistanceLOL and the Only Trump Superfans squealed with orgasmic delight, though for altogether different reasons.
For the ResistanceLOL, Donald Trump's mug shot was the one thing they'd been praying for each night as they knelt in front of the corner bric-a-bac table and lit their Mueller prayer candle. Finally! Finally, their persistent resistance was rewarded. Their nemesis was getting what he so richly deserved.
For the Only Trump Superfans, Donald Trump's mug shot was righteous. Yes, my friends, righteous! It has become the most famous picture in American history. The look on his face said, "I'm coming for you Deep State." Yes sir. Twenty years from now, Americans will recount exactly where they were when they first saw the mug shot.
Some Trump fans went so far as to suggest that the mug shot would be just the ticket to get black people to vote for Trump because, apparently, the only thing Trump supporters know about black people is that they get arrested.
For Team Trump, the mug shot also offered a golden opportunity to make some quick cash.
By Friday morning, at least a dozen Trump-adjacent grifters were selling Trump Mug Shot T-shirts that, five years from now, will end up on yard sale tables with a "50 cents" label made from a strip of masking tape. But for today, there's money to be made.
The Trump campaign’s Chris LaCivita sent out a tweet (x-crete?) warning other grifters away from money off Trump's mug shot, and his message had that old, "This town ain't big enough for both of us" conman vibe to it:
"If you are a campaign, PAC, scammer and you try raising money off the mugshot of @realDonaldTrump and you have not received prior permission ….WE ARE COMING AFTER YOU you will NOT SCAM DONORS"
So if you want to scam the people Trump scams, you need permission first. Good to know.
Team Trump is charging the most for Mug Shot Swag, which is hardly surprising. How else can Trump make enough money to cover his legal fees?
In a thread on X Thursday night, Matt Whitlock posted just eight examples of Trump and his adjacent scammers already marketing T-shirts featuring the mug shot, confirming that PT Barnum was right about suckers.
The Trump campaign’s $47 T-shirt includes the caption "NEVER SURRENDER" … on a T-shirt featuring the mug shot taken after Trump surrendered, which is all kinds of funny.
It would be more fitting if the caption read: “I PAID TRUMP’S LEGAL FEES AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT.”
And while most Trump fans on Twitter (dammit! X) were competing for the prize of "Biggest Mug Shot Hot Take," I think the award should go to radio host Clay Travis who tweeted:
"The Trump mug shot is now the most famous photo in American history. No hyperbole. What's more famous?"
"No hyperbole" in this instance is just as laughable as when Joe Biden says it.
The replies to his tweet restored my faith in humanity as X users posted a shit-ton of iconic images from America's past that will be remembered long after Donald Trump's mug shot is forgotten.
That isn't to say that a former president getting booked and photographed isn't historic. The implications will resonate for generations.
It’s just that the Trump SuperFans don’t seem to understand what the implications are because they’re too busy celebrating it like a bunch of over-caffeinated stage mothers. Not only is Team Trump’s response off-putting and weird, but it shows just how astonishingly unserious these guys are.
The Trump campaign exists almost exclusively on social media. There is no ground game, no campaign infrastructure. It is an online influencer operation aimed solely at taking your money.
I hope Republican primary voters have enough sense to see that.