A MAGA merchandise shop in Crystal Lake, IL — a Chicago suburb — has shut down just months after opening, and the owner is pointing the finger directly at Trump’s deeply unpopular war with Iran.
Owner Lisa Fleischmann told the Chicago Tribune the collapse in sales was immediate: “It all started with the war. It was dead as a door nail the minute that happened.”
She says customers are afraid to even be seen in pro-Trump gear. “I think (customers) are unsure what’s going on… And if you wear it, they feel someone might come up to them and ask them questions.”
And no wonder — 59% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance in a recent Fox News poll. An AP-NORC survey found 59% believe U.S. military action in Iran has gone too far — including 1 in 4 Republicans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 56% of Americans expect the Iran war to hurt them financially, with only 7% saying it would help.
The conflict has already claimed 13 U.S. service members and over 1,000 Iranian civilians.
Fleischmann also noted sales cratered after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff rollout, which he reversed after crashing the markets.
She’s still holding out hope, but the writing is on the wall: when even MAGA diehards won’t wear the merch, something has gone very, very wrong.
A MAGA merchandise shop in Crystal Lake, IL — a Chicago suburb — has shut down just months after opening, and the owner is pointing the finger directly at Trump’s deeply unpopular war with Iran.
Owner Lisa Fleischmann told the Chicago Tribune the collapse in sales was immediate: “It all started with the war. It was dead as a door nail the minute that happened.”
She says customers are afraid to even be seen in pro-Trump gear. “I think (customers) are unsure what’s going on… And if you wear it, they feel someone might come up to them and ask them questions.”
And no wonder — 59% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance in a recent Fox News poll. An AP-NORC survey found 59% believe U.S. military action in Iran has gone too far — including 1 in 4 Republicans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 56% of Americans expect the Iran war to hurt them financially, with only 7% saying it would help.
The conflict has already claimed 13 U.S. service members and over 1,000 Iranian civilians.
Fleischmann also noted sales cratered after Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff rollout, which he reversed after crashing the markets.
She’s still holding out hope, but the writing is on the wall: when even MAGA diehards won’t wear the merch, something has gone very, very wrong.
