Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

The lights are all blinking red.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Republicans in disarray!

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Late Night Open Thread: Sneeker Conman

Late Night Open Thread: Sneeker Conman

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Money laundering was the second thought that crossed my mind — after Ugh, tacky! — and pretty clearly I wasn’t alone.

The ever-earnest Guardian — “Sneakerheads on Trump’s ‘Never Surrender’ gold shoe: ‘Tacky and very, very dumb’”:

… The high-tops were produced under a licensing agreement with a company called 45Footwear. Each one comes with a “custom charm” blazed with an illustration of Trump clad in a tight red superhero jumpsuit, muscles bulging out from underneath.

During Trump’s Sneaker Con speech, the Republican presidential frontrunner said “the most important thing” was “to get young people out to vote”. In 2020, Pennsylvania’s youngest voters, aged 18-29, overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden, with Trump winning only 35% of the demographic.

According to the Pennsylvania Star-Capital, the Sneaker Con president, Alan Vinogradov, donated $743 to Trump’s re-election campaign last year, along with $827 to his affiliated Trump Save America Pac.

But that didn’t make Trump a popular – or welcome – Sneaker Con guest. Attendees loudly booed during his speech, and many spoke out against his appearance on social media. “Sneaker con should be ashamed for uploading this,” wrote one follower. “No sneaker there, just a con,” another chimed in…

Hikmet Sugoer, a German sneakerhead and founder of Solebox, a boutique with locations in six European cities, told the Guardian he was “shocked and disappointed” to see Trump at the event.

“At first I thought it was an April Fool’s joke,” Sugoer said. “Sneakers unite a diverse community around our shared passion, and sneakers should connect us, rather than divide. This move exploited us for selfish reasons.”

Berty Mandagie, a commercial photographer and sneaker enthusiast from Seattle, feels the same way. “Trump has nothing to do with sneakers and sneaker culture consists of people of color who would not feel safe around someone like Trump and his followers,” Mandagie said. “The fact that Sneaker Con turned out to be a Trump rally instead of a sneaker convention is wildly upsetting.”

And what to make of the shoe design? “I think they’re tacky,” Mandagie said. “They look spray-painted with a cheap gold color. The font of the ‘T’ is so basic. It looks like a knockoff shoe produced by Temu.”…

Donald Trump would never! — that’s why Eric is still acknowledged as a member of the family.

But mostly… I needed to share this with y’all, and not over breakfast:
Late Night Open Thread: Sneeker Con

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

Reader Interactions

71Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    A gargantuan grain of salt because Newsweek/em> – Who Makes Donald Trump’s Gold Sneakers? What We Know.

    The website established to sell the sneakers says that the designs are trademarked by CIC Ventures LLC, and “are not designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals.”

    CIC Ventures LLC was established in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2021, after being formed in Delaware. At the time its two managers were listed as Nicholas Luna, who served as Trump’s personal assistant in the White House, and John B. Marion IV, a local lawyer who also worked for Trump, state business records show.

    Also too, a mail drop in … Wyoming?

  2. 2.

    John Revolta

    Each one comes with a “custom charm” blazed with an illustration of Trump clad in a tight red superhero jumpsuit, muscles bulging out from underneath.

    You can also get them without the “custom charm”, but those are $200 extra.

  8. 8.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    It turns out, the guy who made the winning $9,000 bid for the autographed Golden Trump Clown Shoes,… is a Russian CEO.

    That guy’s Roman Sharf, and is the CEO of Luxury Bazaar, a watch grey market dealer, and is a watch youtuber. He was born in the USSR and lives in Philadelphia now. No idea if he still holds Russian citizenship.

    He’s a total tool for sure. In one article, he’s quoted as only recognizing Trump as the president for the last 4 years after winning those tacky golden sneakers

  13. 13.

    Tony Jay

    @John Revolta:

    And for just an extra £300 you can have the special customised charm where the tight red superhero bodywarmer melts away when heated to reveal the taut, rippling flesh beneath.

    Vapours.

  17. 17.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @NotMax:

    Wouldn’t surprise me. They’ve been pumping out direct-to-video movies every other year since the late 90s. Some better than others. I think there was a crossover with the WWE at one point lol.

    The best ones in my opinion were the first four movies. Great soundtracks too! It was thanks to reruns on Cartoon Network in the 90s that the franchise was revived and since then there’s been a steady stream of shows and other media

  18. 18.

    Splitting Image

    Isn’t “Clown Shoes” a Balloon Juice tag dating back to the Dubya administration?

    A man ahead of his time, that John Cole is.

  21. 21.

    Tony Jay

    @NotMax:

    El Stinko Panto is missing a trick there. All those grizzled middle-aged tan-grans with their ‘exclusive’ rhinestone “Grab MY Pussy Mr President” tracksuits are a prime market for ‘funny’ images like that. They can bulk buy whole boxes full and gift them to their annoying Woke family members. As a joke, you understand.

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    Years ago, I heard a rumor that in The Villages, seniors on the make signal their availability by wearing gold shoes. It’s also a notoriously Trumpy place, so the bidding to acquire a pair of those hideous sneakers must have been fierce.

  28. 28.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @Tony Jay: Vapours? Yeah, of the sort that violate the Geneva Protocol. Thanks to that mental image, I won’t be able to look at yogurt for the next week and a half without suffering psychological visual dropouts (what’s the current term for hysterical blindness, anyway?).

  29. 29.

    Dangerman

    … tight red superhero jumpsuit …

    So, Greatest American  Zero (“believe it or not it’s just that asshole again?”)

  30. 30.

    p.a.

    Long ago my friend bought a pack of blank cassette tapes at a flea market.  Showed me later: “I got a great deal on these Memorex tapes!”  “Did you really read the label?”  “Oh what the fuck…”  Labels said “Memex”.  Where was Donald tRump in 1986!?!?

  33. 33.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    This sounds like Trump so broke ass that he’s resorting to hijacking random conventions to do his rallies.

  35. 35.

    Gvg

    @Betty Cracker: I read that there was a secret code based on how far open they left their garage doors and it was swinger couples.

    The villages are known for high std rate. Very high. I wonder if moving far away from family and long time associates uninhibits them? Possibly a way to get away from judgy people they know? I get wanting warm weather for retirement, but still, most older people I know move closer to family as they age. I’ve always thought the Villages were a little weird in concept.

  38. 38.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​

    Unfortunately, you and Marlene Robertson mis-heard. Raven is right, it’s “Fuck Joe Biden.” They might have started with “Let’s go Brandon,” and switched, but I can’t really tell.

    ETA: There might have been a few “Let’s go Biden” in there, but the “F$%^  Joe Biden” is fairly clear (to me, at least).

  40. 40.

    SFAW

    To go OT for a moment: for the second time in two days, we’ve had a bluebird try to get in our kitchen window. [Unsuccessfully, as it’s winter in Central MA.] We’ve lived here more than 20 years, and have had bluebirds most years, but this is the first time we’ve had one try to get in. [Well, that we can remember, that is. Since we are officially old, maybe we’re just forgetting.] Seems strange, but I am not an expert in bluebird psychology/psychiatry.

  42. 42.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    For me, in the first six seconds, the “k” sound is pretty clear. I heard it three times during that period; the one after that was not as distinct.​
     
    ETA: But the sound quality ain’t that great, so …

  43. 43.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SFAW: After the Ferguson dust up and the “March on Jeff city” (which in the wonderfully quaint small town of Rosebud MO was met with Confederate flags and calls to “Go back where you come from.”) I got so angry I put Black Lives Matter on the back of my truck in big, bold, black, letters, in hopes of pissing off the racists. Turns out the only ones upset enough to reply was a pair of bluebirds shitting all over my truck as tho to say “BLUE LIVES MATTER MFK’ER!!!”

  45. 45.

    Eyeroller

    @SFAW: He’s probably attacking the “rival” he sees in his reflection in the window.  It’s about time for them to start defending territories.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @p.a.: Labels said “Memex”.

    Cool, I hadn’t realized that Vannevar Bush got funding for the Memex. That must be for the 1967 re-design, which switched from microfilm to magnetic tape for storage.

  49. 49.

    SFAW

    Each one comes with a “custom charm” blazed with an illustration of Trump clad in a tight red superhero jumpsuit, muscles bulging out from underneath.

    What IS it with these RWMFs and their fetish of depicting TFG as the opposite of the fat, bald(ing) POS that he really is? I mean, I know it’s a cult, but JFC.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SFAW: They are obsessed with big, muscly, he man, alpha males who will put your pansy, liberal, gay, snowflake ass where it belongs.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    I read the dreadful Ezra Klein essay for (of course) the NYTimes. I think Ezra Klein doesn’t understand the delegate process. Delegates come from caucuses or elections or appointments out of state parties. They’re probably the most conventional “team player” Democrats you’ll ever find. I know this because I was one. The southern state Democratic delegations are also very, very African American and the midwestern state delegations are probably more AA than the population of those states.

    I would bet they’d pick Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over again. I’m fairly confident of it. So no one has to do his dumb thought experiment exercise, but kudos to the NYTimes for more irrelevant, elitist nonsense. They should do another 17 stories on Ivy League college presidents. That’s a group they understand.

  53. 53.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Kay:

    Young Ezra not understanding the delegate process would be one of a gazillion things that Young Ezra doesn’t understand but will pontificate on like the careerist pundit he is.

  54. 54.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: Agreed 100%. I have been a delegate at the state convention for the last 3 years and you are absolutely right. That op-ed was written without meeting or actually talking to anyone outside the Beltway.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    Maybe that’s why he wants Biden to “step aside”? Because then the delegates couldn’t vote for him?

    It never ceases to amaze me how many people there are who don’t really believe in democratic principles. They really woud prefer a panel of NYTimes ninnies (identical to themselves) choose the US government.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Right. You come up through a state convention and you will probably have the option at some point to try for a national delegate slot – exactly how I ended up as a national delegate. We caucus for the slots in Ohio but states use all different systems. I think national delegates would be horrified that a group of pundits and reporters – political media- knocked Joe Biden and Kamala Harris out.

    I was at the ’08 national convention where reporters were desperately trying to gin up divisions between the Clinton and Obama delegates, so much so that I confronted an AP reporter and told her she was presenting an innaccurate picture to her audience. There was no real divide at that convention- they were backing Obama. Political media invented one.

  60. 60.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @SFAW:

    What IS it with these RWMFs and their fetish of depicting TFG as the opposite of the fat, bald(ing) POS that he really is?

    Trump is nothing but a placeholder for themselves.  He is overt about it in his rallies, that every attack on him is actually an attack on them.  The message of these pictures is ‘asshole white men are gods’.

  61. 61.

    NotMax

    @kalakal

    Everything old is new again.

    In the 18th century, the pineapple became such a widespread symbol of hospitality that it transferred from the table to patters on wallpapers and even as sculptures adorning wooden entryways, among many other things. Source

  62. 62.

    Glory b

    I also read on Twitter that Christian Louboutin has a patent on shoes with red bottoms and uppers in any other color, so they were waiting on the cease and desist letter.

    Someone envisioned Lindsey Graham and Elise Stefanik sitting in a warehouse full of shoe boxes and cans of black dye.

  63. 63.

    Kay

    So I went to a Sherrod Brown organizing meeting. This is probably my last Ohio election – I’ll register in Michigan in ’25 so it feels fatalistic and final. Anyway, the plan is we look at BOE records and filter for the most reliable Democrats – say, look over 10 cycles (you could do more or fewer) and target them. I’ve done this once before – I don’t recall for what campaign- but it’s easy in a county like mine- we only have 30k people. Me and one other volunteer did the whole thing in an afternoon last time. I just thought it was interesting they’re focusing on most reliable D voters rather than what all of political media/conventional wisdom tell us “target moderate conservatives”. That approach absolutely bombed for Tim Ryan so maybe Sherrod took note.

  65. 65.

    Elizabelle

    @Kay:  Good to hear.  Get those Dems out, and rely on them to get their family and social circle out.

    If you end up attracting any sane non-Democrats, so much the better

    Kay, I am so happy for you that you are moving to Michigan.  And spending weeks and months at a time in Denmark.  You have earned it.  Ohio does not deserve you.  (But come on, Sherrod!)

  66. 66.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @lowtechcyclist: I wonder if Alito has enough self-awareness to realize that normal people don’t feel sorry for him. They know he’s not a noble martyr suffering for the unworthy masses. More to the point, people hate his vile sanctimonious ass and no matter how many times he proclaims his love for Mammon Jesus, that’s never going to change.

  67. 67.

    evodevo

    @Eyeroller: ​
      Probably this…we had a couple of male cardinals attacking our car mirrors and our house windows for a couple of years, until our son put a couple of cut-out scary mask faces in the windows and we put grocery sacks over the car mirrors. The attackers were so intent they left blood smears on the car mirrors!

  68. 68.

    Gin & Tonic

    Roman Sharf may be a Trumpist idiot with no taste, but he is not a “Russian CEO.” He is a former refugee from Soviet Ukraine, who came to the US as a child and has lived here ever since. He’s run a variety of hustles/businesses, but is basically just the stereotypical immigrant who made some money here in the US.

  69. 69.

    Paul in KY

    @HumboldtBlue: Watched it in the dorm common room (best TV back then) and could not believe it! They had massacred us 10-3 about a month before. I just wanted to stay close, not have that happen again.

    God, was there some partying that night!!! Back then, leading the way on the anti-Soviet/Russian partying would have been the Young Republican types…

  70. 70.

    Bill Arnold

    @Betty Cracker:

    Years ago, I heard a rumor that in The Villages, seniors on the make signal their availability by wearing gold shoes.

    Made me look. Story appears to have exploded with this (first instance a couple of years earlier):
    BuzzFeed, Aug 28, 2014

    I’m told that sticking a loofah on your cart antenna signifies you’re into swinging. So does wearing a crimson button. According to multiple people, wearing gold shoes or letting your shirt tag stick out in the back signals you’re on the prowl.

  71. 71.

    Citizen Alan

    @The Thin Black Duke: I would dearly love to ask Archbishop Alito whether he would respect the religious freedom rights of fundamentalist Protestants who refer to Catholics as Mary-worshippers and think the Pope is tge Antichrist.

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