Derek Merrin is campaigning on the promise of a “Made in America” agenda. The only problem?
When it came time to outfit his own campaign volunteers, Merrin handed out T-shirts made halfway around the world in Bangladesh. According to Spectrum News, Merrin’s campaign shirts were manufactured by Gildan, a Canadian apparel giant that labor rights groups have accused of abuses in factories around the world.
Asked by Spectrum what standard “Made in America” candidates should hold their own campaigns to, Merrin refused to answer.
Marcy Kaptur’s campaign shirts, in contrast, are made in America at a local union print shop. “For us in this district, ‘Made in America’ is everything,” Kaptur told Spectrum News. “I believe we have to make, not just buy.”
DCCC Spokesperson Riya Vashi:
“Derek Merrin goes around Northwest Ohio promising to bring manufacturing back home, then hands out t-shirts made halfway around the world by a company accused of exploiting its workers. If Merrin can’t keep his ‘Made in America’ promise with his own campaign merch, Ohio workers have no reason to believe he’ll keep his word in Congress.”
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Spectrum News: Ohio Republican promotes “Made in America” agenda—but his campaign T-shirts were made in Bangladesh
- A Republican congressional candidate in Ohio touts a “Made in America” agenda, but at least some of his campaign merchandise is made in Bangladesh by a company accused of labor abuses.
- In campaign speeches, Former state Rep. Derek Merrin, a Republican challenging long-serving Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th District, often mentions the decline of manufacturing in Toledo, which was hit hard by the national trend of deindustrialization in the last half century.
- Merrin’s campaign also sent out mailers reading, “Derek Merrin’s plan: good jobs, bigger paychecks, made in Ohio.”
- However, at least some of Merrin’s campaign T-shirts are made in Bangladesh, as evidenced by the tag of a T-shirt given out to campaign volunteers this summer.”
- The shirt was made by Gildan, a Canadian company with about 75,000 employees in factories across the world. The Workers Rights Consortium, UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and other labor rights groups have accused the company of labor violations in multiple countries.
- At a press gaggle this week, Merrin did not answer directly when Spectrum News brought up the Gildan campaign T-shirts and asked what standard candidates who push a “Made in America” agenda should be held to when it comes to their own campaigns.
- A 2024 UN PRI report alleged violations at a Honduras facility including long, grueling hours and mandatory production quotas leading to physical injuries. A 2017 Fair Labor Association report alleged workers at a facility in Haiti earning below the minimum wage, while a 2024 Workers Rights Consortium report alleged workers at a facility in El Salvador were owed $1.9 million in unpaid wages.
- In Bangladesh, where at least some Merrin campaign T-shirts were made, garment workers protested the Oct. 2025 death of a 25-year-old pregnant Gildan employee who was allegedly denied medical leave and assistance, according to local reporting.
- Kaptur’s campaign said its campaign T-shirts were all made by Royal Apparel, an American company with manufacturing facilities in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The tag of a Kaptur campaign t-shirt obtained by Spectrum News says the t-shirt was made in the U.S. “with imported yarns.”
- “For us in this district, ‘Made in America’ is everything,” Kaptur said in an interview with Spectrum News. “I believe we have to make, not just buy.”
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