Why would that mean they are suddenly untrustworthy? Anything they are doing online is using up time and energy that they could be using to produce income elsewhere. It is taking time and energy away from job and family. Why shouldn't they make some money at the same time they are giving away information for free? If they were demanding subscription fees before sharing anything, that'd be different.
I keep seeing comments about this that don't seem logical to me. If you don't want to donate or buy a t-shirt, don't. But that has nothing to do with their credibility.
Ah, I see.
Isn't it the claim of insider info that did the most damage to George's credibility? Thats a separate issue, in my view.
Using the claim to sell products and harvest donations is as scummy as it gets in my book. You're question is why cant they sell merch. Well if you're using false claims to do it...
Right. Making false claims and selling merch is scummy. Sharing news/opinions without making false claims while also selling merch is not scummy. I dont get why people lump those two groups together.
False claims=bad
Making money= neutral
A wise man once said: "You can not server two masters"