CNN correspondent Elle Reeve let out a stunned chuckle when a Trump-supporting store owner showed her a suggestive piece of ex-President Donald Trump swag — “Trump’s balls!”
On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Reeve — who specializes in deep dives on the nooks and crannies of politics — took viewers to Virginia’s “Trump Town USA.”
As anchor Phil Mattingly described it, it’s a “store that housed inside what used to be a church where Trump is the religion” — and apparently “Trump’s balls” are what passes for a crucifix:
WHITEY TAYLOR, OWNER, TRUMP TOWN USA: The mugshot was really hot. And this stuff lasts probably about two months — it stays really hot. But the first week that we — the mugshot came out, we sold like 2,000 t- shirts.REEVE: What’s that?TAYLOR: That’s Trump’s balls.REEVE: OK.REEVE (voice-over): Whitey Taylor runs a busy Trump store in Boones Mill, the town of fewer than 500 people in southwestern Virginia. We visited a week after Christmas with the Iowa caucuses just days away. Taylor predicted Trump would win the Republican nomination and then business would really boom.TAYLOR: You can only get these here.UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much are these?MELINDA WILLIAMS, EMPLOYEE, TRUMP TOWN USA: Twenty dollars.UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty bucks?WILLIAMS: Yeah.REEVE (voice-over): Customers were bullish, too. What the superfans
bought offers some insight into what they want politically. The merch is not just simple campaign slogans. It’s defiant — even vulgar — aimed at buyers who enjoy being mad at the state of America and think there’s one guy who will fix it.REEVE: When Trump was indicted for all these different things did people stop buying his merchandise?TAYLOR: No, they bought it more.REEVE: Why?TAYLOR: Because they knew it was like Russia collusion. This is all — just all bull (bleep) — made up bull (bleep). Now he has gained a lot of people because of this administration that we have now — yeah. We –REEVE: You get people coming and saying that?TAYLOR: Oh, yeah — definitely, yeah. They’ll just come in and say never again will I be that stupid, you know.WILLIAMS: Hi. Welcome to the Trump Store.UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.REEVE: What have you observed about what people are looking for?WILLIAMS: People want our economy better. They’re very scared I think because of the way things are going. They feel like where we’re at right now is not — is, like, stagnant.REEVE: Were you interested in politics before Trump?WILLIAMS: Yes, and it’s strange because I’ve also been Democrat.REEVE: Really?WILLIAMS: Yes. So I am a firm believer in believing in a person and system that’s going to make positive changes. Ithink in the past, I made some quick judgments about my voting. And so I’m very more selective and it’s more thought put into it.REEVE: What’s coming up right now?TAYLOR: Who knows? The more the Democrats talk about MAGA crazy people than the — you know, something will spin off of it.Within a 150-mile radius of here, anybody gets company in they bring them here.REEVE: Why did you come in today?DALE COPELAND, SHOPPER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: To get some Trump stuff so I can advertise and support him. In ’06 and ’08, I, like, lost everything I had.REEVE: Yeah.COPELAND: But I barely survived. I mean, I don’t know I did. And this is leading up to the same thing again. So it’s coming. The downfall is coming.REEVE: And do you think Trump could prevent that?COPELAND: I think he can. I think he can put the brakes on it and turn it around.MARY-JEAN PALMER, SHOPPER FROM FLORIDA: I often wonder what encourages people to be a Democrat because I don’t see a lot of kindness. I don’t see a lot of help for our country. And I see a lot of talk and no action.REEVE (voice-over): He got into this business at the very beginning of Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party. Taylor’s a serial entrepreneur andattention seeker, and he prayed to God to guide him while selling racing merch at the Daytona 500.TAYLOR: My son said, “Dad, what’s God telling you?” I said, “He came in my spirit. He wants me to help Trump.”I said, “I’m going to order 1,000 t-shirts.” He said, “Dad, but that’s crazy. You know how crazy you get. Just get 100.” I said, “Go big or go home, boy.” I said, “If God is telling me, we’ll sell every one of them and if not, we’ll throw them in the trash can and leave.”All we had was a white t-shirt that said “Hire the Vets, Fire the Idiots, Trump 2016” on the front — red, white, and blue. And on the back, it said “Finally Someone With Balls, Donald J. Trump,” OK? And I became known as the balls man on the tour.
Watch above via CNN This Morning.