A socialist apparel brand called Comrade Workwear is planning to release a set of “most wanted CEOs” playing cards soon, following the recent murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Comrade Workwear founder James Harr announced the plans in a TikTok video on Saturday. Crediting a follower for the idea, Harr explained that the playing cards would be a pastiche of the “most-wanted Iraqi playing cards” that U.S. intelligence officials developed in 2003.
“This is what I’m thinking for the back of the cards….basically, each suit is going to be, like, certain types of industries,” Harr explained in the video. “So clubs are going to be, like, pharmaceuticals and chemical companies. The heart is going to be, like, retail and real estate. Things that you need to survive.”
“Diamonds are going to be for tech and finance and media and the spades are for oil and war.”
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Harr also developed cards for specific CEOs and encouraged feedback from TikTok users, expressing that he wanted to launch the venture soon.
“Tell me if you guys dig this because I want to put them out like ASAP,” he concluded. “So let’s get some feedback.”
The business owner’s reaction to Thompson’s Dec. 4 death echoed that of many social media users. In a TikTok video, Harr described the New York City murder as “good news,” called the assassin his “f–king hero.”
In a different video, the socialist businessman also described the general excitement around Thompson’s death as “awesome,” but urged his followers to focus on “the system,” instead of individual executives.
“There is no amount of dead CEOs that is going to change the nature of capitalism,” Harr said in a video. “And no matter how awesome it is that, you know, what’s happening, we do need to maintain the knowledge that this energy that we’re having… that’s not going to change anything systemically.”
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Comrade Workwear’s website lists its company’s mission as “creat[ing] opportunities for education, community development, and organizing towards liberation.”
“I believe that at the intersection of art and self-expression lies a powerful opportunity for leftists to bring conversations typically confined to the corners of the internet into the public sphere,” the brand’s website reads. “Apparel is a canvas that brings these dialogues into the streets, into our daily lives, and into shared spaces.”
“Whether to bring levity or to spark meaningful discourse and learning, Comrade aims to use our art and clothing to advance the cause of building socialism in our lifetime.”
In a statement to FOX Business, Harr described the playing cards as “a way to help us bond over our class position as workers and learn about the companies and their leaders that are ultimately profiting off our suffering.”
“The media wants us to condone the violence of the assassination of a healthcare CEO, but they won’t acknowledge the daily violence that the working class suffers because of the decisions of CEOs and boards of directors,” Harr said.
“I’m not suggesting anyone should cause any physical harm to anyone but I do want people to know who is making their life harder, who is stealing from them, who is deciding that a couple more percentage points of profit is worth the life of your loved ones.”
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