Scammers are increasingly accused of exploiting President Donald Trump’s MAGA base by selling politically themed products and then failing to deliver on their promises. That’s the focus of a new article by Jezebel writer Jim Vorel, published Wednesday, which argues that many businesses marketing directly to pro-Trump consumers are facing growing backlash from their own customers.
Vorel’s reporting centers largely on customer reviews tied to MAGA-branded alcoholic beverages, though he notes that the problem extends across a wide range of merchandise aimed at conservative buyers. According to his piece, complaints often follow a familiar pattern: customers place orders, money is taken, and communication from sellers dries up shortly afterward.
Vorel is blunt about what he believes is driving the trend. “Here’s the thing about grifters in this mold: They truly don’t care who they’re stealing from, and the ideology they’re wearing ends the moment the mark is no longer buying, or the ideology is no longer selling,” he wrote.
“They will steal from anyone, or appropriate any image, personality or movement without permission, in order to move some units.” One of the most prominent examples he highlights is a product called “Tears of the Left,” marketed as a Kentucky-made bourbon priced at $100 and sold with a tear-shaped whiskey stone. The brand’s Facebook page, Vorel notes, is filled with angry reviews from customers who claim they paid for bottles but never received them.
Several reviewers complain that they were given no estimated shipping date, even weeks after placing their orders. In one case, a customer reported that the tracking information indicated the bottle had already been delivered, even though it never arrived. Vorel described the situation with biting commentary.
“One of the people lodging their complaint even notes that the company’s tracking information claims that the $100 bottle of what is no doubt cheaply sourced bourbon was already delivered to him, when it never actually was. Would you believe that no one has been responding to his repeated inquiries about that?” he wrote.
He added that the customer ultimately appeared frustrated but resigned, observing, “By the end of the post, he’s already settling into exactly the frame of mind that a grifter prizes above all: Annoyance, but resignation. When your political tribe is more important to you than defending your rights as a consumer, that makes you the perfect mark, someone who will lodge a testy complaint, but take it no further than that.”
Vorel also argues that Trump himself has benefited from similar dynamics. He points to the president’s cryptocurrency venture, the $TRUMP “memecoin, which debuted in January of last year. The coin reportedly launched at over $27 but now trades at about $4.95.
“Even when Trump is stealing directly from his most ardent supporters, they’re all too happy to keep falling for the same con, over and over,” Vorel wrote. The article paints a picture of a marketplace where political identity has become a powerful sales tool, one that critics say is increasingly being used to take advantage of loyal consumers.
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