Sales of “Pocket” Constitution Soar After an Emotional Speech at the Democratic National Convention

August 4, 2016

 

Since a father’s emotional speech at the Democratic National Convention last week, sales of a fifty-two-page pamphlet-sized version of the Constitution have skyrocketed. As of Monday, the pocket Constitution, which costs $1, was the second bestselling book on Amazon, reports The Los Angeles Times.

At the convention, Khizr Khan, a Virginia lawyer whose son was killed in combat in 2004 in Iraq, directed remarks toward Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has said that he would ban Muslims from immigrating to the United States if elected.

“Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you: have you even read the United States Constitution?” Khan said, pulling out a copy of the pamphlet. “I will gladly lend you my copy.” Watch Khan’s full speech on the CNN website.

Khan added, “In this document, look for the words liberty and equal protection of law. Have you even been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending [the] United States of America. You’ll see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

But there’s a wrinkle in this story: The Intercept has reported that one of these bestselling copies is not the edition Khan held up at the convention—and is heavily annotated by Cleon Skousen, a right-wing conspiracy theorist (which Amazon does not note in the product description). Reviewers have expressed disappointment with the lack of details regarding the edition’s idiosyncratic features.

For a few days, the American Civil Liberties Union was offering free, unannotated copies of the pamphlet. They have since run out “due to the unprecedented demand” and are “unable to continue the offer.”

 

Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images.

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