Democratic Presidential Candidate Beto O’Rourke is selling a T-shirt that uses a profane phrase to comment on gun violence in America.

Retailing for $30, the shirt is part of a growing trend in which political candidates, elected officials and political parties are using branded merchandise as a medium for commenting on hot button issues. In marketing/promotional products terms, the practice can be seen as a type of “moment merch” – imprinted products that feature messaging and graphics that tap into trending topics in sports, politics and pop culture.

Sold in unisex and women’s cuts, the new black and gray shirt from O’Rourke repeats the phrase “This is F*CKED Up” six times. It also says “End gun violence now” and “Beto for America.” O’Rourke, who is from El Paso, TX, used the profane phrase during a speech in Virginia to comment on a mass shooting that occurred over the weekend in West Texas.

Proceeds from sales of O’Rourke’s shirt will benefit two gun control groups.

While presidential candidates typically don’t use such language publicly, much less print it on T-shirts for sale, O’Rourke said that the forceful phrasing was necessary to convey the urgency with which legislators should be tackling the issue of gun violence in the United States – an urgency the candidate says is sorely lacking.

 "What we've been saying, the rhetoric we've been using, the policies and practices and politics of this country has not been as urgent as needed. It doesn't meet this crisis," O’Rourke said in a Sunday interview. "So let`s speak clearly and bluntly and then take decisive action. Universal background checks, red flag laws, ending the sales of weapons of war."

O’Rourke’s campaign says that proceeds from sales of the shirts will benefit the gun control groups Moms Demand Action and March for Our Lives. The campaign says it’s not making money off the shirts.

O’Rourke isn’t the only politician to have used merchandise as a vehicle for social commentary. President Donald Trump’s team has done so as well. When controversy raged over players in the National Football League not standing for America’s national anthem, Trump released a branded football jersey with his number presidency – 45 – and the phrase “Stand Up For America.” The jersey tapped into common sentiment felt among the president’s supporters. Then, earlier this year, Trump started selling packets of straws printed with his last name. A commentary on what Trump and some other conservatives feel is unnecessary attention by liberal legislators to banning single-use plastic bags and related products, the straws were a swipe at the president’s political rivals and a means of galvanizing support from his base.

‘Stand Up For America’ football jersey from Donald Trump (on left) and Trump straws (on right).

This summer, the Democratic Party of Kentucky found considerable sales success with its “Moscow Mitch” merchandise. T-shirts, can coolers, hats, drinkware, stickers and buttons were among the merch that totaled sales of $200,000 in just 48 hours. The phrase is a pejorative referring to Republican Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. Democrats seized on it after a Washington Post columnist called McConnell a Russian asset. The criticism was in reaction to McConnell blocking a bill that proponents said would have strengthened election security.

Moscow Mitch can coolers.

Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has used promotional products to convey his support of marijuana legalization – another national discussion that’s looming ever larger. Yang recently released limited edition cannabis-themed campaign merchandise that included T-shirts, hats and bumper stickers.

Our limited edition marijuana merch is now in stock! Check it out: https://t.co/7N4g1yQb9k pic.twitter.com/cHwlfMlHeQ

— Andrew Yang (@AndrewYang) August 24, 2019

Elsewhere, Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren has leveraged merchandise to comment on societal issues. T-shirts, for instance, bare the phrase “Nevertheless We Persist.” It’s a reference to “Nevertheless, she persisted” – words McConnell spoke in reference to Warren as part of defending his decision, as Senate majority leader in 2017, to silence Warren over her objections to Jeff Sessions being appointed attorney general. The feminist movement subsequently adopted McConnell’s comment, with Warren positioned as a strong woman fighting against what some supporters view as the entrenched misogyny of the political system. Over time, the phrase has, to some liberals, grown to be emblematic of the need to fight on and not give up amid policies and actions from the Trump administration that they deeply oppose.

A “Nevertheless We Persist” Elizabeth Warren shirt.

Here at Counselor magazine, we’re not taking a side in the political battles, but one thing we will assert is this: Expect to see a lot more of this social commentary moment merch in the months ahead. And, expect candidates for office at the state -- and potentially even the county and local levels -- to get in on the action for their own campaigns.