Local Sinclair Stations Publish Articles Advertising Trump Campaign Merch

Caleb EcarmaAug 19th, 2019, 12:53 pm
 

Sinclair Broadcast Group took their support for Donald Trump to the next level last week, as at least 20 local news channels affiliated with the conglomerate ran stories that acted as de facto advertisements for merchandise the president is selling for his re-election campaign.

“Trump campaign rolls out red ‘Keep America Great’ hats,” read a headline for a staff-bylined story published on Thursday by CBS 6 in Albany, New York, which appears to be the first station to promote the new Trump campaign paraphernalia.

The articles notes that the item is an update to the slogan Trump used during his “successful White House run in 2016” and even includes the price: “The hat, which is made in the United States, costs $25.00.”

According to a report from the Daily Beast, the stories published by the Sinclair affiliated stations originally included hyperlinks to the president’s campaign store that sent readers directly to a page where they could purchase the hats. Some stations have kept the link, while others have removed it after social media backlash; though, in the case of CBS 6, the Trump 2020 URL is still included in the article’s photo caption.

A Twitter user tracking the Trump campaign’s online fundraising efforts was first to discover the Sinclair stations promoting the hats en masse by publishing nearly indistinguishable articles.

Sinclair has routinely been criticized in the past for using their 193 stations across America to parrot Trump campaign talking points. The conglomerate often requires that their local affiliates air segments defending Trump or attacking his media opponents that feature the network’s chief political commentator Boris Epshteyn, who previously worked for the president’s administration and his campaign.

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Caleb Ecarma

Caleb Ecarma was a reporter at Mediaite. Email him here: caleb@mediaite.com Follow him on Twitter here: @calebecarma