Trump slams ‘liberal paper straws’ as his campaign sells expensive plastic ones

American President Donald Trump’s campaign is marketing packs of plastic straws for R210 each in a move set to support his position that “liberal paper straws don’t work”.

“You know, it’s interesting about plastic straws: So you have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers and everything else that are much bigger, and they’re made of the same material? So the straws are interesting. Everybody focuses on the straws. There’s a lot of things to focus – but it’s an interesting question,” he said on video as he left the White House for his New Jersey golf course.

Trump’s website markets the packs of hugely marked up straws saying, “‘STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP and buy your pack of recyclable straws today.” While, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale tweeted, “Making Straws Great Again #Trump2020,” and linking to the advert.

Trump has often been accused of profiting from his presidency in his personal capacity, and this latest straw selling technique will be added to the pile of those attempts by detractors, who have indicated that Trump’s hotel income jumped from $33.8 million in 2016 to $60.5 million in 2017, largely on the back of his decision to have his presidential trips stay exclusively in those establishments.

California banned plastic straws in restaurants this year, while companies like Starbucks are moving away from using them. The campaign to “withdraw the straw” is seen as an easy access point to eventually banning all single-use plastics by environmentalists who argue that the vast majority of plastic ends up in landfills and the ocean with as much as 91 percent of plastic not being recycled according to National Geographic.

The movement has seen some pushback from libertarians and conservatives who mock the negligible impact they think the straw campaign will have, while others such as some disabled people say plastic straws do fulfill an important role in their lives.

Environmental group Greenpeace has subsequently fired back at Trump saying his support of the straws is apt, because his presidency is also a “cheap throwaway.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.