Sticker Mule cofounder Anthony Constantino has come under attack for his pro-Trump/anti-hate message over the weekend. With the assassination attempt on President Trump helping to expand the ever-widening rift between people from opposing political parties, the Sticker Mule cofounder sent out a call for peace via email, Instagram and Twitter/X.
Donald Trump was shot.
— Sticker Mule (@stickermule) July 14, 2024
I don’t care what your political views are but the hate for Trump and his supporters has gone too far.
People are terrified to admit they support Trump. I’ve been scared myself.
Americans shouldn’t live in fear.
I support Trump. Many at Sticker Mule… pic.twitter.com/mydQpM8GVV
"Donald Trump was shot. I don’t care what your political views are but the hate for Trump and his supporters has gone too far. People are terrified to admit they support Trump. I’ve been scared myself. Americans shouldn’t live in fear."
"I support Trump. Many at Sticker Mule do. Many at Sticker Mule also support Biden. The political hate needs to stop. Today a bullet almost killed Donald Trump. He’s got 5 kids. One’s still a teenager."
"No one should have to die and sacrifice the happiness of their family to run for office. If Donald Trump can risk that, the least the rest of us can do is vocalize our support and help end the hate. The more people realize that kind-hearted, compassionate people support Trump, the sooner the hate will end."
"I’m speaking up today and will do more in the future to stop this insane political hate. Awesome people, all over the world, love Trump. Don’t limit your friendships, and diminish your happiness by indulging in political hate. Vocalize your support. Stop the hate."
This message of encouragement for Trump's supporters, as well as a call to be peaceful and kind to others, has garnered intense backlash from the mainstream media. Several of these sites have called his response "bizarre," and are even accusing him of trying to bribe his customers into supporting Trump. Some have written off Sticker Mule as an acceptable place to do business with and have even created lists of competitors for their readers to shop at instead.
Rachel Leishman at The Mary Sue attacked Anthony Constantino for choosing to send out a "political endorsement" to his customers' email addresses, completely missing the point of his message. It's worth mentioning that Ms. Leishman has a long history of manufacturing and inserting herself into controversies, most recently engaging in a Twitter spat with massively popular Star Wars expert and YouTuber Star Wars Theory over his extreme dissatisfaction with The Acolyte.
This is absolutely disgusting behavior from @RachelLeishman the woman who interviewed Lesleye Headland the other day. @realswtheory made a very respectful reaction video and her response was to body shame him pic.twitter.com/OwIdhfwzl8
— super (@ARCtrooprWinnie) July 12, 2024
Predictably, Mr. Constantino's words fell on deaf ears, resulting in the exact opposite of the intended effect. Within hours of sending out the email, people were calling for a boycott and vowing to never purchase products from his company again. Things escalated further, with Sticker Mule receiving numerous death threats and vile messages referring to them as "Nazis."
Giving a $2500 bonus to all support staff (79 ppl) for dealing with the bullshit.
— Sticker Mule (@stickermule) July 16, 2024
Stop with the death threats! pic.twitter.com/ZFapl7GwYJ
In response to this backlash, Mr. Constantino decided to take the high road, once again denouncing this violent rhetoric and even going so far as to publicly state that his employees would all be receiving $2,500 bonuses for having to deal with the unhinged behavior of these alleged "former customers."
I gave $2500 bonuses to all 79 people on our support team because they received death threats. That must stop, but, on the bright side, we paid out $195,000 in bonuses.
— Sticker Mule (@stickermule) July 17, 2024
If people expressing hate towards us want to feel good about something, they can take credit for helping our… pic.twitter.com/ErBtOcxOIw
This follows a much larger pattern that we have seen develop ever since this weekend's events, as large numbers of celebrities, political aids and social media users have applauded the assassin's effort to end Trump's life. While the message put out by the Sticker Mule cofounder was sent out with the best of intentions behind it, it was met by what the worst of humanity has to offer.