Photo of burning Trump-Pence sign wins 4-H ribbon, draws criticism in Minnesota

A controversial photo submitted to a contest at a Minnesota fair has caught criticism from the county’s Republicans.

The photo, shared by Pennington County Republicans, shows a dark scene with a Donald Trump-Mike Pence 2020 election campaign sign on fire.

A teenager, a member of the youth non-profit organization 4-H, submitted the photo, which earned a blue ribbon from the Pennington County Fair, according to the post.

“It seems this is a 4-H submission and is absolutely not appropriate, especially as a children’s submission,” the Pennington County Republican party wrote in a Facebook post.

The group requested others call the 4-H club or the fair board if they are also offended by the photo.

Both the 4-H and fair later commented on the mixed reaction the photo received. The 4-H said it supports the teenager and acknowledged her “technical and artistic photography skills”

“4-H has always been a place for young people to explore, learn and think for themselves. 4-H’ers may express their positions on a variety of topics, including social and political issues,” it wrote on Facebook. “We hope that all can agree that learning is at the core of 4-H.”

The fair added that it does not support exhibits submitted at the fair.

The 4-H disabled comments on its Facebook post, and the Republican party eventually limited the comments on its post as well.

Before disabling comments, the Republican party tagged the teenager who took the photo. She received both criticism and support for her photo.

“Not appropriate for a county fair or a 4-H exhibit,” one commenter said.

“I think your photo is beautiful!” commented another person. “All true artists get negative reactions. Don’t let this drama overshadow your work/talent.”