The Newseum, a popular museum in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to a free and independent press, has received tremendous backlash after deciding to sell “Fake News” shirts on Friday.
The Newseum’s online store is selling shirts that say, “you are very fake news,” a shirt reading “Trump #45,” and “Make America Great Again” hats. Many journalists have expressed outrage over the merchandise.
Journalists on the left are calling for the Newseum to stop selling the shirts, deeming it insulting that a place dedicated to the First Amendment would sell things that would reference the president’s catchy line targeting the press.
.@Newseum has a memorial to journalists killed while reporting. So why are they selling “fake news” shirts? It’s one thing to sell political paraphernalia … it’s another to promote a phrase authoritarian regimes around the world use to stop a free press https://t.co/j30qEyttmJ
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) August 3, 2018
. @Newseum, you know better. No amount of revenue justifies this lapse in judgement and an about-face on your mission. https://t.co/LUNx5SEzuJ
— Emily Kuhn (@emkuhn) August 3, 2018
“As a nonpartisan organization people with differing viewpoints feel comfortable visiting the Newseum, and one of our greatest strengths is that we’re champions not only of a free press, but also of free speech,” a Newseum spokesperson said to The Hill.
A spokesperson told Poynter that MAGA hats are one of their most popular items.
While some leftist journalists freaked out, others made jokes at their expense.
“Mad at the Newseum Gift Shop” is an all time low for 6pm Summer Friday Twitter
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) August 3, 2018
Guys.
The Newseum is a monument to everything dumb and bad about the press’s overdeveloped sense of self.
A snarky t-shirt the sales of which will briefly prop up the giant money-suck is the 168th worst thing about it.
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) August 3, 2018
People appear to be Actually Mad about this. https://t.co/E2rtoIOcKg
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) August 3, 2018
On Saturday, Newseum announced it was pulling the “Fake News” merchandise following a backlash.
UPDATE: The Newseum’s director of public relations says they have removed the “fake news” T-shirts from their merchandise.
“We made a mistake and we apologize. A free press is an essential part of our democracy and journalists are not the enemy of the people.” pic.twitter.com/2wgeiCXV17
— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) August 4, 2018
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include Newseum’s statement.