Fake News: Walmart NOT Selling Anti-Trump T-Shirts

Fact Check

  • by: Maarten Schenk
Fake News: Walmart NOT Selling Anti-Trump T-Shirts

Did Walmart introduce a new line of t-shirts sporting anti-Trump messages and are people starting a boycott over it? No, that's not true: the image purporting to show the shirts was made up by a liberal satire page on Facebook that tries to rile up conservatives and Trump supporters into liking and sharing fake news and possibly boycotting Trump-friendly businesses in the process. The shirts are not real.

The story originated from an image published on September 12, 2018 by a Facebook page titled "America Loves Donald Trump" (archived here) with following comment:

LOCK UP ALL THE WALTONS!! EVEN JOHN-BOY!!

The text on the image read:

Walmart's new shirts could be treason!!

Included are "Trump in crosshairs", "Kill Trump" & "Trump King of the Morons"

Share to start the boycott!!

The t-shirts in the background are crude photoshops and in reality Walmart is selling many Trump-branded clothing items that are pro-Trump as you can see on this page on their website.

The comment about locking up "John-Boy" from the Waltons should also tip you off the image and post are fake. Walmart is indeed owned by the (real) Walton family but "John-Boy" is part of the fictional Waltons from the television show of the same name.

The Waltons (TV Series 1971-1981)

Created by Earl Hamner Jr.. With Jon Walmsley, Mary Beth McDonough, Eric Scott, Judy Norton. The life and trials of a 1930s and 1940s Virginia mountain family through financial depression and World War II.

The Facebook page that initially posted the hoax has this disclaimer on its info-tab:

Nothing on this page is real. It is a collection of the satirical whimsies of liberal trolls masquerading as conservatives. You have been warned.

Don't fall for it!

Want to inform others about the accuracy of this story?

See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:


  Maarten Schenk

Lead Stories co-founder Maarten Schenk is our resident expert on fake news and hoax websites. He likes to go beyond just debunking trending fake news stories and is endlessly fascinated by the dazzling variety of psychological and technical tricks used by the people and networks who intentionally spread made-up things on the internet.  He can often be found at conferences and events about fake news, disinformation and fact checking when he is not in his office in Belgium monitoring and tracking the latest fake article to go viral.

Read more about or contact Maarten Schenk

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