Kamala Harris says ‘there’s no going back,’ but her campaign is selling ‘throwback’ merch

Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, are campaigning on more than joy — they’re also pounding the theme “We’re not going back,” aiming to denigrate both Donald Trump and his policies.
So why is the Harris/Walz campaign going retro when it comes to merchandise?
On the campaign website — which has been criticized for containing no information about policies — there is “throwback” merchandise, including an obviously not contemporary photo of Doug Emhoff (a “throwback Doug mug for $22) and a “retro Kamala Harris T” ($32) and other merchandise showing photographs of Harris in various stages of life.
The “Doug mug” features an image of Emhoff that the second gentlemen posted on social media when #MeAt20 was trending in 2020. It’s unclear why the 80s-era photo, in which Emhoff wears a Laguna Beach T-shirt, resonated with Harris fans, but one wrote on X “Totally the boy at SkateWorld we would all be after.”
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Harris’s opponent, former President Donald Trump, has even more merch available on his campaign website, ranging from his signature “Make America Great Again” hats (available in not just red, but an array of colors), T-shirts that abbreviate the MAGA slogan to just “Again!” and items featuring Trump pumping his fist in the air after getting shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, as well as his booking mugshot in Georgia.
Trump, it might be said, revolutionized presidential campaign merchandise, with pop-up shops featuring Trump merch opening around the country in the lead-up to all of his presidential campaigns. Some of the shops reported a renewed surge of interest after the assassination attempt, which occurred days before the Republican National Convention.
Political merch is so hot that Walmart is selling Trump and Harris T-shirts through third-party sellers on its website — even though the retailer was criticized for such sales when some vendors were selling shirts and baby clothes that said “Impeach 45″ in 2018. Facing boycotts from Trump supporters, Walmart took the impeachment-related merchandise off its website.
One new feature in this year’s presidential campaign merchandise is the merch that features not just the candidate and running mate. Former candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s endorsement of Trump has led to a wave of Trump-Vance-Kennedy merchandise on the Etsy website, some with the slogan “Make America Healthy Again.”
There are a few Etsy sellers that go even further, adding Elon Musk and Tulsi Gabbard to a dream “ticket.”