‘White House’ Gift Shop Selling $100 COVID-19 Commemorative Coins As Death Toll Hits 61K

The White House Gift Shop is selling $100 COVID-19 commemorative coins, emblazoned with slogans like “World vs The Unseen Enemy” and “Everyday HEROES Suited Up.”

The COVID-19 coin, which features the names of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, depicts an empty presidential podium on one side, and a graphic of the novel coronavirus above the world on the other side.

The coin also features the names of Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The coins are the eleventh in a “historic moment art series” that includes coins celebrating Trump’s meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin and another titled, “President Donald J. Trump: A Study in Genius.”

The privately-run White House store was established in 1946 by President Truman.

The coin has sparked fierce backlash amid a deadly pandemic that has claimed over 61,000 lives.

“If the White House Gift Shop is going to produce $100 COVID-19 coins, Trump can sure as hell utilize the Defense Production Act to manufacture the gloves, gowns, and masks our medical workers desperately need,” Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted on Wednesday.

If the White House Gift Shop is going to produce $100 COVID-19 coins, Trump can sure as hell utilize the Defense Production Act to manufacture the gloves, gowns, and masks our medical workers desperately need. https://t.co/Wr6Y1uwG0i

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 29, 2020

OMFG, the White House Gift Shop is selling commemorative COVID-19 coins. https://t.co/FqbrSK8mrK pic.twitter.com/ojVXsOkdKB

— Mark Elliott (@markmobility) April 29, 2020

File under @realdonaldtrump and tacky, the brand new $125 @whitehousegift shop "commemorative coin" with, drumroll, free shipping!:https://t.co/kqEtYquMn9

— David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) April 29, 2020

I'm sorry I was fished in by the COVID coin, people. But this is a real coin, so I figured nothing was impossible.https://t.co/Y79NotpBLV

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 29, 2020

Hard to think of a better symbol of Trump's handling of the epidemic – a self-promoting rip-off at a steep price – than the White House gift shop selling commemorative Covid-19 coins for $125. https://t.co/RSgMesId1h

— Edward Luce (@EdwardGLuce) April 29, 2020