People are concerned that an $88 baseball sold on the Trump Organization's merch page could be a secret message to white supremacists

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People are concerned that an $88 baseball sold on the Trump Organization's merch page could be a secret message to white supremacists
A baseball being sold on the Trump Organization's website is listed at $88. The number has been used as a stand-in for Heil Hitler, or HH, because H is the eighth letter in the alphabet.Trump 2020 campaign
  • An $88 baseball on the Trump Organization's website is drawing suspicion as a potential dog whistle for white supremacy.
  • Eighty-eight is defined by the Anti Defamation League as "one of the most common white supremacist symbols" signifying "numerical code for 'Heil Hitler.'"
  • The baseball's high and unusual price raised eyebrows online in the aftermath of Trump tweeting a video of a supporter yelling "white power" and Facebook removing a Trump campaign ad warning about "dangerous" leftist mobs that included an upside down triangle, a symbol used by Nazis to designate political prisoners in concentration camps.
  • White supremacist imagery and messaging has been an issue for Trump and his campaign going back to the 2016 election.
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A new controversy over what could be white supremacist messaging from Trumpworld has emerged in the form of an $88 baseball being sold on the Trump Organization merchandise page.

The number 88 is defined by the Anti Defamation League as "one of the most common white supremacist symbols" because of the letter H coming as the eighth letter in the alphabet, with 88 signifying "Heil Hitler."

"88 is used throughout the entire white supremacist movement, not just neo-Nazis," the ADL website reads. "One can find it as a tattoo or graphic symbol; as part of the name of a group, publication or website; or as part of a screenname or e-mail address.

"It is even sometimes used as a greeting or sign-off (particularly in messages on social networking websites)."

The baseball's price raised eyebrows online in the aftermath of Trump tweeting a video of a supporter yelling "white power" and Facebook removing a Trump campaign ad warning about "dangerous" leftist mobs that included an upside down red triangle, a symbol used by Nazis to designate political prisoners in concentration camps.

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The Trump Organization did not immediately return a request for comment.

The price point of the baseball is not the only reason for the merchandise drawing suspicion online.

A hoodie on the new arrivals page also sells for $88, but did not draw the same level of attention on social media.

Most recently, the president tweeted a video of a Trump supporter yelling "white power," and Facebook removed a Trump campaign ad containing a symbol once used by Nazis because it violated a policy against "organized hate."

President Trump ended up deleting the white power video three hours after it went up, following a scramble by white house aides to try and reach him on the golf course.

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Trump claimed he did not know the man in the video said "white power," even though the comment comes almost immediately after the video starts.

Subtle and occasionally overt white supremacist messaging and support have been an issue for Trump and his campaign going back to 2016.

The official newspaper of the Ku Klux Klan endorsed Trump in 2016.

Throughout the 2016 GOP primary, white supremacists embraced Trump and praised him online for amplifying their messaging. Trump retweeted accounts such as @WhiteGenocideTm, posted a Star of David tweet widely condemned as being anti-Semitic — with Trump deleting the video but later saying he regretted deleting it — and tweeting a photo with Nazi soldiers bearing the SS eagle insignia superimposed on an American flag.

Trump has disavowed several instances of alleged racism only to walk them back later, both publicly and in reported private conversations.

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In a recent piece in The Atlantic, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl reported for the first time on a private meeting Trump had in the aftermath of Charlottesville.

Before Trump made his infamous "very fine people on both sides" remarks, Karl cites sources with Trump recalling an outburst the president had on the day he delivered a scripted condemnation of the white nationalists and neo-Nazis in Virginia.

Karl writes that Trump was watching TV coverage of his mea culpa with Kellyanne Conway, his senior adviser, and then-Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

As Fox News called his televised address "a course correction," Trump turned to Conway and Sanders.

"This is f---ing your fault," Trump said, according to Karl's sources. "That's the last time I do that."

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