First England, then Scotland. Now Baby Trump balloon might soar over America
That big orange Baby Trump balloon that flew over thousands of people protesting in London and Scotland last week during Donald Trump’s visit is apparently going on tour.
Next stop: The United States, and possibly your town.
The 20-foot balloon is an angry-looking child, a bloated orange-tanned infant with a blond Trump-like pouf holding a cell phone in one hand. It’s diaper is clipped in the front with a safety pin.
Trump told Britain’s The Sun last week that the balloon made him feel “unwelcome” in London, which he steered clear of to avoid tens of thousands of protesters there.
“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London,” he told the Sun. “I used to love London as a city. I haven’t been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?”
On Friday, the day the balloon floated above protesters in London, New Jersey activist Didier Jiminez-Castro started a GoFund Me campaign to raise money to bring the balloon to the United States.
He set a goal of $4,500. As of Monday morning the campaign had raised nearly $8,000.
He told CBS Philadelphia that 60 percent of the donations in the first day came from women and that he was “really proud of women for leading in this.”
The first planned stop for the balloon is Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster in New Jersey.
“We want to go on a tour. We will definitely bring (the balloon) to Central Park,” he told CBS Philadelphia.
He is working with the People’s Motorcade, a local group that regularly protests at Bedminster.
They are blunt about why they’re doing this, citing Trump’s comments about the balloon making him feel “unwelcome” in London.
“We need to get under his skin as much as we can,” Jiminez-Castro, of Hillsborough, New Jersey, wrote on the GoFundMe page.
As soon as he saw the balloon he knew he had to find a way to bring it stateside, he told NJ.com.
“I saw that as a gift to us in the sense that the balloon is a tool to enable us to go after the president in a humor kind of way,” he told the New Jersey website.
“The baby Trump is not just a piece of humor, but it is also a symbol of the administration. It’s symbolic of the children that are in cages, it’s a symbol of racism, and we know that he hates to be ridiculed.”
He told CBS Philadelphia it could be three to four weeks before the balloon arrives in the country and that organizers don’t know yet if they’ll be allowed to fly it at Bedminister.
He Told NJ.com he plans to document the balloon’s American tour on social media. It has a Facebook page, called Baby Trump Tour, and a Twitter handle, @BabyTrumpTour.
“Thank you to all of your generous donations to make this happen,” Baby’s Facebook page and Twitter account say.
“Baby Trump will arrive in the US in about 4 weeks. Prior to that we will be putting together a team of experienced organizers from the Resistance to manage the tour. Submit your location for consideration.”