Inflation jacks up new Trump campaign merch prices

Hours after announcing Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his vice president pick, the Donald Trump campaign unveiled its new campaign T-shirt with the new running mate's name Monday night.

The cost of the plain white T-shirt with Trump and Vance's names and the "Make America Great Again!" slogan is $35.

That's a 75 percent increase from Trump's 2016 campaign T-shirts, which sold for $20, according to a September 2015 CNN article.

Screen grab from Trump National Committee email

The price difference is much higher than inflation would dictate over the past eight plus years. Twenty dollars in September 2015 should have buying power of $26.41 in July 2024, according to the inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to a July 11 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current inflation rate over the past 12 months is 3 percent.

Inflation was much of the talk of the Republican National Convention that started on Monday in Milwaukee.

"Inflation is crushing families," said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) in a convention speech Monday night. "Joe Biden is asleep at the wheel, and we're headed over a cliff."

The Republican National Committee had Sarah Workman, an Arizona single mother, speak about the economic challenges the country faces under President Joe Biden.

"Everywhere we look, there's pain, chaos and crisis, inflation, open borders, woke indoctrination in our schools, violence in our cities, and unjust rulings in our courts," Workman said. "All of it is eroding one of America's greatest strengths, our optimism."

Mark Robinson, lieutenant government of North Carolina and candidate for North Carolina governor, said at the convention that families feel "hopeless" with inflation given that "grocery prices have skyrocketed and gas has nearly doubled in North Carolina."

Trump National Committee, the joint fundraising committee for Donald J. Trump for President 2024 and the Republican National Committee sent out the fundraising email from Trump selling the T-shirts.

"These are the FIRST shirts to bear the words TRUMP - VANCE on them," the email signed from Trump said. "So of course I knew you had to have one!"

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