By Nikki McCann Ramirez
Donald Trump’s latest cash grab has even his most reliable allies rolling their eyes. The former president launched a series of digital NFT trading cards on Thursday to much mockery from opponents, and clear frustration from some of his most prominent supporters who think he should be focusing on politics with his 2024 reelection campaign off to a rocky start.
On the “War Room” podcast, host Steve Bannon and his guests, right-wing commentators Sebastian Gorka and Steve Cortes, called for Trump to clean house or at least fire whoever conceptualized the absurd stunt.
“We’re at war,” Bannon said. “They oughta be fired today.”
Bannon on Trump's NFT announcement: "I can't do this anymore" 🤣 pic.twitter.com/ZC3PuTfM6N
“The president should not be involved with this,” said Gorka. “Whoever wrote that pitch should be fired and should never be involved” in Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign. General Michael Flynn, former national security adviser to Trump, made a similar criticism on a radio show appearance on Thursday. “Whoever advised him on that, I’d fire them immediately,” Flynn said.
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For many, the trading cards, which sold out for $99 a pop and featured what could be AI-generated images of a svelte Trump posing against various backgrounds and in a variety of costumes. Each image is a mad libs of MAGA iconography. Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a basketball. Trump with gold bricks labeled TRUMP raining down around him. Trump dressed as a superhero cowboy, or ripping off his shirt, or on the moon. It’s as corny as it is cringey.
Conservative radio host John Cardillo torched the announcement on Twitter, calling it “ridiculously tacky” and that it’s “like he can’t help himself in making these unforced errors.”
Trump’s speech on censorship was awesome but unfortunately overshadowed by the ridiculously tacky NFT announcement. It’s like he can’t help himself in making these unforced errors.
Had he just stuck with the censorship speech it would have been a massive winning day for him.
Daily Wire founder and host Ben Shapiro sarcastically mocked the announcement on social media, with other commentators describing the NFTs as a symbol of Trump’s political decline. Conservative streamer Tim Pool tweeted that Trump was “basically retired.” Talk show host Jesse Kelly wrote that conservatives needed to “demand improvement. Put the pom poms down. We need a better Trump.”
It was even too much for QAnon supporters, to whom Trump is essentially a god-like figure. According to a report from Vice, members of chat rooms and message groups tied to the conspiracy theory called the cards, among other criticisms, a “foolish NFT cash grab.” QAnon influencer “QAnon John” called the NFTs “tone deaf to a VAST MAJORITY of Trump’s base.” A few hours later, it what can only be described as classic QAnon logic, he claimed that while it was at first unclear what Trump was trying to achieve with the NFTs it’s “now it’s CLEAR that was a classic troll move/ploy to get the MSM in a total frenzy.”
Despite the criticism, it seems Trump got at least one thing right: His most die hard fans will still fork over cash for whatever slop he throws at them. The 45,000 NFTs have reportedly sold out their initial release, with some being traded for upwards of $8,000. Go figure.
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