Trump campaign sells branded markers to ‘set the record straight’ after Dorian map edit

President Trump’s reelection campaign has started selling branded permanent markers following controversy this week over a map Trump displayed that apparently was altered with a black marker to back up his claims about Hurricane Dorian’s original path.

“Set the record straight!” reads the marker’s description on the Trump campaign website.

The fine-point markers, emblazoned with Trump’s signature in gold, use permanent ink and are made in America, the product description states.{mosads}

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted a photo of the markers on Friday, writing: “Buy the official Trump marker, which is different than every other marker on the market, because this one has the special ability to drive @CNN and the rest of the fake news crazy! #KeepMarkersGreat.”

Parscale tweeted later in the day, “Hundreds of sets already sold!”

The move comes two days after Trump drew scrutiny after he displayed a map during a White House briefing that appeared to be manually altered with a black marker to show Hurricane Dorian’s projected path extending into Alabama.

Trump later told reporters that he didn’t know about the apparent alteration, and he has spent days defending his claim from Sunday that Dorian was expected to impact Alabama. The president has repeatedly defended his comment despite a tweet from the National Weather Service in Birmingham that the state would “NOT” be impacted by the storm.

The Wednesday briefing, coupled with the president’s repeated insisting since Sunday that his forecast was correct — despite meteorologists saying otherwise — have spurred viral hashtags including #SharpieGate, #TrumpSharpie and #SharpiePresident, which Democratic lawmakers and other high-profile figures have used to mock Trump for his use of the altered map.

The company that makes Sharpie markers also saw a boost in popularity in the wake of the controversy, gaining hundreds of Twitter followers in the day after the Oval Office briefing.

The Washington Post reported Thursday evening, citing an unnamed White House official, that Trump was the one who altered the map projection for Dorian’s path to include the state of Alabama.

The Trump campaign has capitalized on other viral moments by selling themed merchandise, including recyclable, branded plastic straws that went on sale last month in a pushback against “liberal paper straws” that “don’t work.” 

Tags #SharpieGate Brad Parscale Donald Trump Donald Trump Donald Trump presidential campaign Hurricane Dorian Sharpie

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