BOONES MILL, Virginia — At an intersection in rural Virginia along Route 220, Donald “Whitey” Taylor put out his newest merchandise on the lawn of his megastore celebrating the former president — a yard sign that said “Garbage DeplorableS For Trump.”
“They just came in today and they are already flying off the shelves,” Taylor, 74, said before a sea of colorful political flags before a decommissioned church that is now packed with Trump merchandise.
Only days after President Joe Biden referred to supporters of the Republican nominee as “garbage,” Taylor says supporters are eager to sport apparel with the label after former President Donald Trump capitalized on the outrage by campaigning in a garbage truck and a reflective vest.
2024 ELECTIONS LIVE UPDATES: LATEST NEWS ON THE TRUMP-HARRIS PRESIDENTIAL RACE
“They love it. They want more; by the end of tomorrow, I bet all these new signs will be gone,” Taylor said, pointing out a stack at the front of the store.
Trump Town USA is bracing for an uptick in business also because the megastore’s namesake will be nearby in Roanoke County on Saturday. Trump is taking a detour from the traditional battleground states and making a rare visit to Virginia just days before the election to try to flip the state red for the first time in 20 years.
The Virginia rallygoers will find anything and everything Trump — a “Moonie Trump” figurine that says “kiss my ass” depicting the former president showing his backside, flags, and T-shirts with the photo of Trump clenching his fist in the aftermath of his first assassination attempt, and a keychain of steel testicles.
“That’s Trump’s balls right there, you know, they are about a pound and a half; we sell a lot of them; I’m down to only two left,” he said, taking the keychain off the shelf. “They come out of Texas. I’ve got to get more of them.”
“That’s Trump’s balls right there — they’re about a pound and a half,” Whitey Taylor tells me, who owns the Trump Town USA megastore in Boones Mill, VA. He says it’s among one of the store’s most popular items. pic.twitter.com/6iMYDWFcZ6
— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) November 2, 2024
The store is housed in a former 100-year-old church at the heart of the small town with a population of about 250 people. Taylor, who lives in a building directly behind the store, opened it months ahead of the 2020 election. Even after Trump’s election loss, the store thrived as the former president faced mounting legal troubles. Sales spiked with each new indictment. One of the most popular items continues to be a coffee mug featuring Trump’s mugshot.
Taylor, who also owns the Franklin County Speedway, said his store became even more popular after Trump survived the Butler, Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July.
“Business is good every day, but the first assassination attempt, we had over 2,500 people to come in that day in the rain,” Whitey said. “If it hadn’t been raining — there’s no telling how many we would have had. There was a line out the door; people were coming in all day.”
His inspiration for what would eventually become the store happened while he was at the Daytona racetrack in Florida with his son and he started reading the bible and prayed to God for guidance.
“Immediately it came up in my spirit, he wanted me to help Donald Trump,” he said.
He eventually ordered 1,000 Trump T-shirts, explaining that his son had begged him to only order 100 to start. “I said go big or go home, boy,” he said with a laugh. Taylor ended up selling all of the T-shirts at a single rally in Radford, Virginia, in February 2016.
POLL WATCHING: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT MATTERS FOR ELECTION DAY
Taylor takes a page from Trump’s legal playbook
Taylor, who is challenging incumbent Boones Mill Mayor Victor Connor in this year’s election, is facing some legal troubles of his own. He was charged with assaulting three of his female employees and was arrested on four misdemeanor charges, three counts of simple assault and battery, and one count of indecent exposure on Oct. 22.
In response to the recent charges, Taylor is taking a page from Trump’s playbook, calling the criminal charges “fake news election interference.”
“It’s politically motivated. It’s right before the election, it’s obvious, one of the girls said you’re not going to be the mayor and I said we’ll see,” Taylor said, claiming that he’s innocent.
Trump gambles with a late trip to Virginia
Despite the recent controversy, the store was full of patrons on Friday stocking up on gear ahead of Trump’s rally in Salem on Saturday, a town less than 20 miles up the road from the store.
Trump is making what some call a risky gamble by campaigning in the final days of the election in a state that hasn’t backed a GOP candidate for president since George W. Bush in 2004. Republican insiders have been encouraged looking at recent polling, which has shown Trump cutting into Vice President Kamala Harris’s lead in the state.
The state also has a popular Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, and a state legislature that is only narrowly controlled by Democrats.
“He’s going to flip it — it only is going to help when Trump rolls in,” Taylor said. “There will easily be 40,000 people over there tomorrow trying to get into that arena that only holds 6,000,” he predicted on Friday.
“Virginia is for Trump Lovers,” Taylor said laughing, pointing to one of the yard signs in front of the store.
Shiloh Markwith, 18, who was shopping at the store with his mother, Ronda, said he sees Virginia as a “very big” target for Republicans.
“I think Trump thinks Virginia might flip, which honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised looking at the polls,” Markwith said, who is a college student in Williamsburg and will be voting for the first time for Trump. “James City County is very, very competitive this year, and I think if he flips that and a couple more, he’ll definitely flip the state red.”
Mike Cunningham, 59, who was purchasing a T-shirt and a flag ahead of the rally on Saturday, said he wasn’t completely convinced that Virginia would turn red this cycle.
“I think any state right now is in play, I mean I don’t trust the polls,” he said. “They’ve been wrong every year for the election so far, so they’ve been way off. So I just want to be part of the process.”
Taylor, who firmly believes the unproven theory that the 2020 election was stolen, has no doubt that Trump is going to win this cycle. However, even if the outcome isn’t what he’s hoping for on Nov. 5, he believes his store will still be in business no matter what.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“This merchandise will sell — he has already left a legacy, no matter what happens to Trump, he’s already left a legacy,” he said. “No matter if he drops out of the race tomorrow, quits or dies, or whatever happens, he’s not going to, but if he should, he’s left a legacy.
“… This store will be selling as much merchandise 20 years from now as it is today.”
