During last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the iconic host decided to put Trump’s “Buy American” mantra to the test by purchasing merchandise from the official Trump Store, which is currently overseen by the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, to see where it is produced.
However, when Kimmel began reading the labels from the products he bought, he found that the large majority came from countries outside the United States, such as China, Thailand, and Peru.
After the segment, the Trump Store took to Twitter with a pathetic attempt at humor and – more characteristically – to use it as an opportunity to plug their store.
Hey @JimmyKimmel, it appears you make an even better salesman than comedian – Thanks for the pitch! https://t.co/uw6A6RS81n pic.twitter.com/1ih2mREDpx
— trumpstore (@TrumpStore) March 15, 2018
Kimmel, right on cue, responded with an epic takedown, to which the Trump Store remained noticeably silent.
You are most welcome and, may I say, the Chinese do a BEAUTIFUL job making your products! @DonaldJTrumpJr @EricTrump https://t.co/te6L2pNkw0
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) March 15, 2018
The fact that most of the merchandise in question on Kimmel’s show was made overseas wasn’t the worst part of his segment. Several items actually failed to list a country of origin at all, which – if indeed produced overseas – is illegal.
Regarding the requirements on goods imported into the United States, they are “required to have a country of origin marking, such as; the country of manufacture, production, or growth of any article of foreign origin entering the United States.”
“Failure to properly report product origin can result in substantial penalties,” Jimmy read from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. “Companies can face up to $500,000 in fines per violation or ‘double’ the loss or gain from the violation related to these violations.”
“This could be very expensive,” Kimmel warned. “Not to mention embarrassing. Are they even capable of shame? I mean Trump’s whole platform is about American companies, his company isn’t even supporting America!”
At this, Kimmel opted to escalate his qualms to the federal government.
“I’ll just file an official complaint and let them sort it out,” he said.
As if the glaring hypocrisy of taking office on the pretense of “America First” while almost exclusively manufacturing goods abroad in his own business wasn’t bad enough, the First Family’s disdain for the rule of law – another tenuous tenet of Trump’s campaign – shows that not only are his words meaningless but his sole priority is, unsurprisingly, money. Lest there be any doubt, check out Kimmel’s show.
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