Spencer's Gifts has long been home to stuff like disco balls, novelty mugs, lava lamps, fake fart stuff, and semi-edgy t-shirts that don't really age well. After all you don't want to be an adult wearing a "Show Me Your Kitties" shirt, do you? But the chain has found themselves in the midst of some scrutiny after a Portland store displayed this rack of Donald Trump tees, which went viral, but probably not in a way that most businesses want to go viral:
As you can likely tell, the shirt getting the most flak is the "Grab America By the Pussy" one that paraphrases the president-elect's infamous quote that was caught on a hot mic when he was yukking it up with Billy Bush back in 2005. And while it's more than fair for you to point out that nearly all of Twitter is just people spreading headlines and trying to display moral superiority, the following outrage actually got a response (of varying concern) out of a couple of the people it was directed at:
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Kevin Mahoney, the vice president of Spencer's, defended the shirt, saying that it was "satire," like Alec Baldwin's portrayal of Trump on SNL. "The shirt originates with the comment made by the President-elect,” Mahoney told The Oregonian. “The purpose of that shirt was to address that controversy and that news, and not in any way to condone that type of activity.”
However, even if it sells out (which the shirt apparently did online, according to Spencer's website), sometimes things are just such a massive headache that they're not worth it to the people who have to deal with the outrage directly. And that seems to be the case in the particular Portland mall where the image that sparked the whole thing was taken. Bob Dye, the mall's general manager, said "This is wrong on so many levels, regardless of where on the political aisle you stand. We are as incensed at this as you are and we will do everything within the confines of the lease to have it removed.” Soon afterward, the shirts were yanked:
Oh well. You didn't want to be a grown-ass man wearing that thing anyway.
