Newham Bookshop's anti-Trump poster receives swell of support

An East London bookshop's decision to put a sign in its window highlighting it is "proud" to sell books by authors from so-called "sh*thole" countries, in reference to a remark allegedly made by US president Donald Trump, has been met with a "phenomenal" response from the trade and customers.

Earlier this month, Trump reportedly asked US lawmakers at a meeting on immigration why the nation should welcome people from Haiti and African countries, which he referred to as “shithole countries”, although Trump denied using the term.

In response, the Newham Bookshop in East London

a picture of a sign in its window which reads: "We are proud to sell books by authors from 'sh*thole' countries". The tweet has since been liked 436 times and retweeted more than 150 times.

In our window. We have a fantastic selection of authors fro S**thole countries. pic.twitter.com/ieM2F9n0Vp

— Newham Bookshop (@NewhamBookshop)

In our window. We have a fantastic selection of authors fro S**thole countries. pic.twitter.com/ieM2F9n0Vp

— Newham Bookshop (@NewhamBookshop) January 17, 2018

Shop owner Vivian Archer told The Bookseller she created the sign because she was "so infuriated" with Trump's comment, and wanted to support authors from African countries and Haiti, which the shop has stocked throughout its history.

Archer said the response to the poster had been "phenomenal and fantastic" and had resulted in an increase in sales and footfall to the shop, with new customers coming in because that had seen on the sign or heard about it on social media.

Archer said: "It's something I felt very strongly about [doing]. Trump's comments were outrageous, ignorant and racist".