Parkland survivor trolls Trump’s new sneaker venture by buying domain and directing visitors to gun safety site

Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg has bought a website address referencing former president Donald Trump’s new sneaker brand and turned it into an anti-gun violence website with the ability to call lawmakers to advocate for legislation.

Mr Hogg, who is now the president of Leaders We Deserve, an organisation dedicated to electing young candidates to Congress, made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.

“I just bought shoptrumpsneakers.com” the activist wrote. “I have redirected you to a page to call your member of Congress. The twist is the person who makes the call is a victim of gun violence whose voice has been re-created with AI to call for gun safety.”

Mr Trump launched a series of sneakers ranging from $199 to $399 to help him raise funds for his legal expenses. The more costly shoe named “The Never Surrender High-Tops”, a pair of gold-coloured sneakers with a black T emblazoned on the tongue, have sold out.

Some buyers are attempting to resell them for thousands of dollars, per Mr Trump’s Truth Social page.

It comes after the former presidentlaunched his-and-her Victory 47 perfume and cologne, with a gold stopper shaped like a quiffed head.

The former president started promoting the shoes on Sunday at Sneaker Con, a footwear convention in Philadelphia, just days after a judge in a New York civil fraud case ordered him to pay $350m – plus interest – for conspiring to manipulate his net worth. He was previously ordered to pay $83.3m to E Jean Carroll after he repeatedly defamed her by lying about his sexual assault of her in the 1990s.

David Hogg speaks at a gun safety rally in North Carolina in 2023

Mr Trump has not addressed Mr Hogg’s site publicly but has continued to advertise the sneakers.