In Indy visit, Donald Trump Jr., Jim Banks offer vision for parallel economy

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From left, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Indiana), PublicSquare CEO Michael Seifert and Donald Trump Jr. (IBJ photo/Peter Blanchard)

Donald Trump Jr. and U.S. Rep. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) visited downtown Indianapolis on Monday to promote a shopping app that offers a digital directory of businesses that support conservative causes.

The pair was joined at entertainment venue Nevermore in Union Station by Michael Seifert, founder and CEO of PSQ Holdings Inc., which went public in July and is the parent company of digital marketplace PublicSq. PublicSq. launched in July 2022 and has more than 70,000 marketplace businesses and about 1.6 million consumer members.

PublicSq. is one of a growing number of apps catering to conservatives that includes Patriot Mobile, a Christian conservative wireless network; The Right Stuff, a dating app; and Mammoth Nation, a membership-based platform with an emphasis on products made in the United States.

Such businesses are part of a conservative movement to build a “parallel economy,” a term that traditionally describes the black market but is now used as a catchall to define a resistance movement against progressive social and political causes.

“If you’re a parallel economy business, you have to have a high level of intentionality on law,” Seifert told the audience. “As Don mentioned earlier, we have a target on our back. We know that there are folks that are looking for this to fail. They’re looking for your business to fail, they’re looking for PublicSq. to fail because they want to invalidate the idea that the parallel economy would ever need to exist. They want the anti-woke caucus to fail because it would invalidate the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans that actually are believing for a future that is not captured by woke ideology.”

Banks, who is running for U.S. Senate, said it was appropriate that PublicSq. held its first town hall event in Indiana given that the app includes 900 Indiana businesses and 50,000 Hoosier users.

“I think that’s a great thing because PublicSq. is the ground zero of supporting pro-American businesses, and where better to find pro-American businesses and employers than right here,” Banks said.

Among those in attendance were like-minded Indianapolis-based entrepreneurs like Jonathan McPike, founder and president of Indianapolis-based Agathos Law, a law firm that specializes in representing “parallel economy” companies; and Matthew Mohlman, president of Monument Ventures, who has “a vision to build Berkshire Hathaway for our side.”

Others were simply there to see Trump Jr., the trustee and executive vice president of the Trump organization.

Tanya White, 61, found a caregiver to look after her son while she drove to Indianapolis from the Hancock County town of Wilkinson for the event.

“This is the closest I can get to Trump Sr.,” said White, who was wearing a Trump-branded shirt and a hat bearing the anti-Biden slogan, “Let’s Go Brandon.”

“He won’t come to Indiana, maybe because it’s too cold, or he has other states to worry about that aren’t as red as Indiana,” she said.

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10 thoughts on “In Indy visit, Donald Trump Jr., Jim Banks offer vision for parallel economy

  1. Wait. What? Didn’t dtj2 just testify this week he just signs off on stuff and doesn’t really know anything about business? Grifters going to grift.

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