Unofficial White House Gift Shop selling $100 Covid-19 coins sparks outrage
The Trump administration came under fire on Wednesday, April 29, when a number of netizens stumbled upon a certain 'White House gift shop' selling coronavirus commemorative coins for collectors at $100 apiece.
A website called whitehousegiftshop.com is currently selling limited first edition coins, which claims to celebrate "everyday heroes" on the White House coronavirus task force. "100% of Profit Donated to Five Major COVID-19 Research Hospitals" the description of the products read. It does not elaborate on the names of the hospitals it intended to donate the money to.
As soon as an increasing number of people became aware of the coins, outraged citizens took to Twitter to slam the White House for attempting to profit off the coronavirus pandemic that has infected over a million people in the United States and claimed over 60,000 lives so far, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Former Democratic Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, led the critics with his tweet which reminded people that the healthcare workers continue to face shortages in PPE supplies due to the federal government's lack of proper response to the outbreak.
"If the White House Gift Shop is going to produce $100 COVID-19 coins, Trump can sure as hell utilize the Defense Production Act to manufacture the gloves, gowns, and masks our medical workers desperately need," Sanders said in a Twitter rant Wednesday.
Author Rafranz Davis tweeted: "I’ve learned to check these things because sometimes you see this stuff and think it has to be fake but no, the Whitehouse is actually selling commemorative Covid19 coins. Who in the heck wants this?? Like...why???"
Mark Elliott, the president of Economic Mobility Corporation tweeted: "OMFG, the White House Gift Shop is selling commemorative COVID-19 coins."
The commemorative coin in question is the 11th coin in the White House Gift Shop's 'Historic Moments Coin Collection'. One side of the coin features a virus molecule with 'World vs Virus. Everyday Citizens Did Their Part' inscribed on the outer edge and the words 'Together We Fought the Unseen Enemy. Everyday Heroes Suited Up' printed around the image of the virus in the center.
On the other side, there is a picture of the White House press briefing stage in the center with the words 'COVID-19 Task Force' enveloping it. It also features the names of the key White House coronavirus task force figures President Donald J Trump, Vice President Michael R Pence, Secretary S Mnuchin, Dr Jerome Adams, Dr Deborah Birx and Dr Anthony Fauci.
While the White House gift shop was once originally established by then-President Truman and members of the US Secret Service in 1946, it has little to do with the actual White House at present.
In May 2018, Josh Marshall, the editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo, investigated who really ran the unofficial gift house which still carries the White House logo right at the top of the page and uses a similar navy-blue and white color scheme as the actual White House website and also has the "USA.gov" seal at the bottom of the site.
He found that the Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund, which operated the shop at one point, contacted a private firm called Giannini Strategic Enterprises (GSE) in Pennsylvania in 2011 to handle the operations of the shop.
The company is owned by a self-confessed Trump supporter named Anthony Giannini. Two years later, the ownership of the shop was fully transferred to GSE after Vice Chairman of the Uniformed Division Benefit Fund sent a letter to Giannini informing him that the UDBF would be "shutting down in the near future."