The owner of a pro-Trump merchandise site is in trouble to the tune of more than $200,000 after replacing the "Made In China" labels on their merchandise to ones that read "Made In the U.S.A."
The retailer, Lions Not Sheep, sells apparel with slogans supporting former Republican President Donald Trump, promoting violence and other conservative messages, all presented on a website full of patriotic imagery and messaging.
But much like the former President they love, it turns out for these owners "Make America Great Again" means something more like "Make Off-shore Manufacturing Great Again." Like the former President's merch, most of their products are made in China.
The owner of the company, Sean Whalen, agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission a $211,335 for his solving this bit of hypocrisy by simply lying about it on the labels on his products, many of which feature outright calls to violence like the slogan "Give Violence a Chance" as seen in the video below.
Other products the company sells include t-shirts depicting Trump as the Terminator, shirts emblazoned with "#FJB," an acronym for "Fu*k Joe Biden," and a customized baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
The Utah-based company's name is supposedly a reference to the saying, "a lion doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep," the sheep of course being liberals and anyone who takes the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, opposition to which is another favorite topic for the company's merchandise.
Much of the company's apparel is done in a red, white and blue color-scheme, with abundant American flag imagery. But nearly all items are manufactured in China, and the misrepresentation of that fact is fraud according to FTC rules.
Whalen certainly wasn't trying to hide it, however. According to the FTC's report, Whalen created social media posts in which he bragged about swapping the "made in" labels, despite claims on his site of selling the "BEST (expletive) AMERICAN MADE GEAR ON THE PLANET."
Despite having bragged about the practice, Whalen took to Instagram to post a defense of himself, casting himself as the victim. He has since made his account private.
On Twitter, people were not exactly sympathetic about Whalen getting in trouble for his fraudulent practices, and they dragged him hard.
\u201cThe same Sean Whalen that filed for bankruptcy while also spinning himself as a guru for men. See also fraud, con man. #LionsNotSheep\u201d— Jay Sandel (@Jay Sandel) 1659732021
\u201c@lionsnotsheep_ @Sean_Whalen I'm ready to order some stuff\u201d— Lions Not Sheep (@Lions Not Sheep) 1660068251
\u201c@lionsnotsheep_ @Sean_Whalen That was a five star speech.\u201d— Lions Not Sheep (@Lions Not Sheep) 1660068251
\u201c@lionsnotsheep_ @Sean_Whalen Scammer. Grifter. Now we know.\u201d— Lions Not Sheep (@Lions Not Sheep) 1660068251
\u201c@maklelan \u201cSnakes not Doves\u201d\u201d— Dan McClellan (@Dan McClellan) 1659708332
\u201cTurns out this Sean Whalen guy is a hyena, not a lion.\u201d— Larry with an i wants you to grow up. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddee (@Larry with an i wants you to grow up. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddee) 1659898569
\u201c#GOP \n@Sean_Whalen \nWhat's it like to idolize someone who is a grifter like yourself?\nYou down with the FTC...ya you know me. Made in where again?\u201d— Caricatures (@Caricatures) 1659813877
\u201c@lionsnotsheep_ @Sean_Whalen You're a lying liar who lies. CFR on tagging for national origin hasn't changed in years. You've defrauded people with slimy, illegal tactics.\u201d— Lions Not Sheep (@Lions Not Sheep) 1660068251
\u201c@lionsnotsheep_ @Sean_Whalen Clothing fraudsters make clothes for tax cheaters and insurrectionists.\n\nHere's clothing actually made in America:\u201d— Lions Not Sheep (@Lions Not Sheep) 1660068251
\u201c@StrictlyChristo "Lions Not Sheep owner Sean Whalen. A Trump supporter who follows everything Trump says\u2026like a sheep." \n\nJan 6th committee needs to recheck the tapes to find out if this grifter was part of the insurrection that Trump directed.\u201d— StrictlyChristo \uea00\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b (@StrictlyChristo \uea00\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b) 1659837159
\u201c@TeaPainUSA Sean Whalen was following the lead of his Emperor God Trump. Since he doesn\u2019t have the connections his deity does, he got hit with a hefty fine based upon the law.\u201d— Tea Pain (@Tea Pain) 1659818418
In addition to the $211,335 fine, the FTC has also demanded Whalen “stop making bogus Made in USA claims” and “come clean about foreign production."
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