While many people love Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and his self-described democratic socialism, his campaign isn't too thrilled with a "Bernie Is My Comrade" shirt depicting the senator alongside various communist figures from history. A lawyer from the campaign has ordered Liberty Maniacs, the company selling the shirt, to stop selling the design.
From BuzzFeed:
Claire Hawkins, a lawyer with Garvey, Schubert, Barer — which said it is “the official organization” of the campaign — sent the letter to Daniel McCall, demanding his company, Liberty Maniacs, stop selling the items.
The products show Sanders next Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, and others with the tagline, “Bernie is my comrade.”
“I was surprised Bernie’s campaign would have done that,” McCall, who designed the image, told BuzzFeed News. “He didn’t seem to be the type of candidate, the type of guy, who would do something like this.”
“I’m waiting to see what happens, but I would think Bernie, or one of his staff members will step in and put an end to it. It appears to be pretty silly.”
Liberty Maniacs has accused the Sanders campaign of "trademark bullying," and thinks that it's absurd that someone could confuse a shirt that's clearly meant to mock the candidate with official campaign merchandise.
Personally, I'm on the side of Liberty Maniacs on this one. There's plenty of merchandise out there mocking the other presidential candidates, and this is no different.
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