Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

‘Yo-Semite’ T-shirt breaks sales records after Trump gaffe

Digital Media Creator Sarah Lefton’s “Yo-Semite” t-shirt always gets a sales boost when Yosemite National Park makes the news. Even Apple’s 2014 “Yosemite” system upgrade gave t-shirt orders a bump. Still, nothing could have prepared Lefton for Tuesday morning, when she checked her phone and discovered hundreds of Twitter mentions.

“It took me just a couple of minutes to find the Trump clip,” said Lefton, “and I immediately knew that I was going to sell thousands of t-shirts.”

On Tuesday morning, President Trump went viral after mispronouncing Yosemite National Park as “Yo-Semite” National Park at the bill-signing ceremony for a bipartisan conservation act. The error was quickly tweeted, parodied, and made into memes, causing sales of “Yo-semite” shirts to spike. They haven’t stopped selling since.

“We’ve sold hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of those shirts over the years,” said Director of Retail at the National Museum of American Jewish History Kristen Kreider, “just not hundreds and hundreds and hundreds in one day.”

When Lefton created the shirt 16 years ago at a Jewish summer camp, she never expected it to become a political statement. But she’s not surprised by how popular the tees have become and remained in the Jewish-American community.

“It’s just all culture and identity,” said Lefton. “It’s a way to embrace your roots that feels really wide and affirming.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.