Despite railing against political correctness, the word Christmas is curiously absent from Trumps stores, restaurants and hotels. During Donald Trumps presidential campaign he talked often about his determination to win one particular war. A war that had been raging for years, he said. Specifically: the war on Christmas. But despite Trumps repeated claims that people are saying Merry Christmas again instead of the more inclusive happy holidays, there are several places where the Christmas greeting is absent: Trumps own businesses.
The Trump Store, for example. Instead of a Christmas gift guide which surely would be more in keeping with the presidents stated desire for the phrase to be used the store offers a holiday gift guide. Shop our Holiday Gift Guide and find the perfect present for the enthusiast on your list, the online store urges. Carefully curated to celebrate the most wonderful time of year with truly unique gifts found only at Trump Store. Add a bow on top with our custom gift wrapping. Happy Holidays!
The use of the phrase Happy Holidays [sic] in Trump marketing would seem particularly egregious. The long-standing War-on-Christmas complaint from the political right is that stores use the phrase Happy Holidays, rather than specifically mentioning the Christian celebration. It is offered as both an example of political correctness gone mad, and as an effort to erase Christianity from the US. Trump seized on this during his campaign, repeatedly promising that under his presidency people would be trotting out Merry Christmas again. (He offered no proof that people had stopped using the phrase.)
He has continued to talk about it since then including in July this year, when he told a rally that Christmas was under siege before his victory, and in a recent fundraising email. But its not just the online Trump store, that is failing to keep the presidents Christmas promise. This week a visit to Trump Tower, Trumps signature New York City erection, revealed that Christmas is not mentioned anywhere in the buildings public space.
A phrase that is mentioned: Holiday, specifically at the Trump Grill, where the Holiday Menu options include the Trump Burger it comes with cheese, egg, and brownie ala mode. A flick through Trumps Twitter account, and that of his businesses, show that for all Trumps shouting about being able to say Merry Christmas again, he and his businesses never been big users.
Trump International hotel and tower, half a mile from Trump Tower, has used the term Christmas three times on Twitter in the past eight years. It has used holidays, in relation to the season, more than a dozen times. Trump Tower has similarly betrayed the presidents hardline Christmas stance. Happy Holidays from Trump Tower! the buildings Twitter feed exhorted in December 2016 a month after Trumps election victory should have represented the final blow in the Christmas war. It has used the phrase twice this month alone.
Going back even further, there is evidence that Trump has waged his own personal war on Christmas. After Trump bought a building close to Central Park in 1981, he refused to decorate the lobby for Christmas part of a concerted strategy, according to the New York Times, to hound out residents from the building, so he could knock it down and build a big tower.
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You don't need a treaty to have free trade. M Rothbard {Self-Hating Token Asian of the Ivory Tower's Zionist Elite}