Donald Trump has continued to receive criticism after his much-hyped "major announcement" turned out to be the former president selling $99 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of himself.
Trump had teased he would be making a statement on Thursday, December 15, by declaring that "America needs a superhero" and sharing an image of him pulling a Superman-like pose with lasers shooting out of his eyes.
While there was speculation that the "major announcement" could be Trump confirming his next running mate or declaring he will be running for the White House in 2024 as an independent, it was instead revealed to be a collection of "Trump Digital Trading Cards" being sold for $99 each.
"Very much like a baseball card, but hopefully much more exciting," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In the aftermath of the announcement, a number of MAGA and Trump loyalists criticized the former president for moving into the world of NFTs.
Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist and longtime ally of Trump, was one of the more high-profile GOP names to condemn the former president for the apparent "major announcement" on Thursday.
"I can't do this anymore," Bannon said on his WarRoom podcast, adding that anyone who is involved in the project "ought to be fired today."
John Dennis, chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party, made a similar statement while sharing an image of one of Trump's NFTs on Twitter.
"I like Trump. This is not a good idea. Whoever advised Trump to sell NFT's shouldn't be fired. They should be exiled."
Whoever advised Trump to sell NFT's shouldn't be fired.
They should be exiled. pic.twitter.com/kNuZKWG48O — John Dennis (@RealJohnDennis) December 15, 2022
Others also suggested that the potential GOP candidate for the 2024 presidency should be more focused on other issues than selling online tokens.
Fox News breaking-news editor Chris Pandolfo tweeted: "Sure, inflation is wrecking the economy, Russia and China are on the move, the culture war wages at home, but at least presidential candidate Donald Trump is offering voters Trump Digital Trading Cards they can buy for $99 each. Get your NFT today."
Daniel Bostic, one of the lead organizers of the "Stop the Steal" movement, tweeted: "If this is the #MAJORANNOUNCEMENT it is embarrassing and a slap in the face to Trump's base. People are struggling and losing their country. They're begging for real action—not childish stunts like this."
Robby Starbuck, former GOP congressional candidate for Tennessee's 5th district, tweeted: "This is not good. We're facing a threat to civilization from far left Marxist extremists. Teasing NFT cards as a major announcement is not the kind of fight people want to see now. These are dark times. Love the guy but this turns many off."
Ben Kew, editor-at-large for Human Events and the bilingual conservative platform El American, added: "So Trump's 'MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT' was actually just a grift to promote a bunch of worthless trading cards. Even my grandmother knows NFTs are a scam."
Kew ended the post by tweeting a "DeSantis2024" hashtag, suggesting he will be backing the Florida Governor for the next GOP presidential candidacy over Trump.
So Trump's "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT" was actually just a grift to promote a bunch of worthless trading cards.
Even my grandmother knows NFTs are a scam.
👎👎👎👎👎#DeSantis2024 pic.twitter.com/fusWwT7KPN — Ben Kew 🐶 (@ben_kew) December 15, 2022
It wasn't just Republican figures who mocked Trump for the NFT announcement.
President Joe Biden tweeted that he also had made some "major announcements" in the past couple of weeks, such as easing inflation, lowering gas prices, and freeing Team USA basketball star Brittney Griner.
I had some MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS the last couple of weeks, too…
✔️ I just signed the Respect for Marriage Act
✔️ We brought Brittney Griner home
✔️ Gas prices are lower than a year ago
✔️ 10,000 new high-paying jobs in Arizona — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 15, 2022
Despite the ridicule, all 45,000 tokens in the Trump collection sold out within 12 hours.
Newsweek has contacted Trump for comment.
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JJStray on December 16th, 2022 at 14:18 UTC »
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” -Carl Sagan
Tracedinair76 on December 16th, 2022 at 13:58 UTC »
I love this quote from Bannon ""I can't do this anymore," Bannon said on his WarRoom podcast, adding that anyone who is involved in the project "ought to be fired today."" This from the guy who got caught grifting his and Trumps supporters to build the stupid wall.
DickySchmidt33 on December 16th, 2022 at 13:26 UTC »
It's funny, and entirely predictable, that they would pretend to be shocked that Trump is attempting to scam people.
As if everything he did was completely above board until yesterday.
And Steve Bannon? Really? The guy who raised money from Trump's dupes to "build a wall" on the southern border only to put the money straight into his pocket? He's outraged about this? He can't believe Trump would try to scam people?
Give me a fucking break already.