Launches 'War on Christmas' campaign with Starbucks boycott call

At a record-setting rally of 10,200 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Illinois, Trump launched what would become a signature culture-war grievance: the claim that 'Merry Christmas' was under attack. 'Did you read about Starbucks? No more Merry Christmas at Starbucks. No more,' he told the booing crowd. 'Maybe we should boycott Starbucks. I don't know. Seriously.' Trump noted Starbucks operated in Trump Tower: 'That's the end of that lease, but who cares?' He then made the pledge he would repeat for years: 'If I become president, we're all going to be saying Merry Christmas again. That I can tell you.' The Starbucks controversy had been manufactured by a pastor's viral Facebook video criticizing the chain's plain red holiday cups. Trump weaponized it to signal evangelical grievance.

"If I become president, we're all going to be saying Merry Christmas again. That I can tell you." — Springfield, Illinois campaign rally, November 9, 2015, the night before Fox Business Republican debate