Facebook bans $35M vet-owned American AF page from platform over Trump merchandise
The wildly popular Facebook page of the veteran-owned apparel company American AF has been permanently banned by the platform over its political satire merchandise.
American AF’s page, with more than 1.6 million followers, was banned without warning on Oct. 16 after more than five years on Facebook. Facebook said the decision is permanent.
A Facebook representative said the brand was promoting merchandise with “’Trump’ and ‘Keep America Great’ branding in a misleading way – namely that this was official Trump merchandise, affiliated with the Trump campaign.’”
American AF CEO Shawn Wylde, a former Marine officer who founded the company in 2015, said his company has never claimed to promote official Trump campaign merchandise. He says Facebook is targeting his business for selling Trump merchandise. Wylde’s art doesn’t only parody or draw attention from Republicans, however. He has designs featuring notable Democrat figures such as former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
