The Odd Mystery of MAGA Liquor

A Trump-inspired cottage industry emerges. Or does it?

View in Browser  Thursday, May 22, 2025 This is a mystery story. President Trump is a famous teetotaler, which makes it a little odd that a cottage industry of MAGA-inspired liquor has emerged. The bottles have names like Build the Wall Tequila and Let's Go Brandon Bourbon. Our booze critic Jonah Weiner wanted to try them and … well, the next part is the mystery. I don't want to spoil it. You can read about the weird and winding adventure here. Cheers.  – Michael Sebastian, editor-in-chief   Plus: I've been to all seven continents and these are the best travel bags Peter Berg gave us serious answers about the Friday Night Lights reboot We found the Apple Memorial Day deals worth your time A World of MAGA Liquor Is Exploding Online. But What If It's Not Real? Add another broken promise to the presidential pile. A liquor bottle is etched with an image of President Donald Trump wearing sunglasses—one lens is stars, the other is stripes—and extending two triumphant middle fingers, apparently at you. Or at Thomas Crooks, the man who tried to kill him in Butler, Pennsylvania, last summer. The bottle, which retails for $74.99, is labeled "You Missed."   Welcome to the small but vocal world of MAGA-themed booze, a very American phenomenon that started during the first Trump administration and continues in the second. The political statements these brands are built on might be loud, but it turns out many of them are either failed business ventures or concepts that have yet to become going concerns. And with a few exceptions, most of them don't seem to be willing to talk about their ideas or products. READ THE STORY REI is having its biggest sale of the year. It's time to stock up on backpacks, tents, hoodies, and so much more. Gaby Keiderling sorts through the best REI deals for Memorial Day. >> I just know the Trump Administration wants to pardon Derek Chauvin. Remember all those police-reform agreements from a few years ago? Well, the Justice Department doesn't want them anymore. Charles P. Pierce writes about the recent dismissal of lawsuits against the Louisville and Minneapolis police departments. >> Dave Franco Tells Us How He Stole The Studio Finale If you just saw Dave Franco's gloriously unhinged performance (as a fictionalized version of himself, mind you) in The Studio's final two episodes, don't worry: He's not bouncing off the walls anymore. But after the year he's had, he has every right to do exactly that. "Seth and Evan tapped into the fact that I am generally a pretty happy, positive person," Franco tells me. "But then we cranked it up to an insane degree, where it reached the level of toxic positivity." By Sirena He I Guess All It Takes to Pass a Big, Ugly Bill Is a Few Wimpy House Republicans So they finally got the Big Plug Ugly passed through the House of Representatives, and by a single vote too. So before we discuss anything else, let's commend the Republican Chickenshit Caucus—the brave public servants who declined, in one way or another, to attach their names to this horrific mutation of public policy but who also were too a'skeered to vote against it lest the president say mean things about them on the Intertoobz. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland voted "present," while Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona and Andrew Gabarino of New York simply didn't vote at all. By Charles P. Pierce Follow Us Unsubscribe | Privacy Notice | CA Notice at Collection Esquire is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2025 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779