Protesters outside the White House placed a life-sized effigy of President Trump in a guillotine on Thursday evening as the president made his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the White House South Lawn nearby. In a video that was shared on social media by Daily Caller reporter Shelby Talcott, the doll can be seen with its head in the guillotine, and it is wearing a prisoner’s jumpsuit, straitjacket, and mask. According to Talcott, a piece of paper on the doll reads “Ticket – Fascist, Rapist, Criminal.”
In the background of the video, protesters can be heard shouting “Off with his head!” leaving no doubt about how they feel about the President. Another video clip shared by Talcott featured people screaming “F—k Trump!” Protest organizer Justin Johnson encouraged people to make noise to drown out Trump’s speech.
The hateful display was panned by Trump critics and supporters alike. Newsweek reported that many people on Reddit said they found the guillotine to be in poor taste, even those who aren’t fans of the president. Some worried that these types of protests would only serve to help secure his re-election.
Trump continues to speak out against violent mobs
During the acceptance speech, Trump hit out at the violent mobs rioting throughout the nation. He said: "As has foolishly been done for many decades, your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists and agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.”
He added that we cannot allow mob rule in America, saying that the Republican party strongly condemns the looting, violence, rioting and arson being seen in Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Kenosha, and other Democrat-run cities that are allowing these mobs to get out of hand.
President Trump pointed out that Joe Biden was proud to have the support of people like Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who labeled the Minneapolis Police Department “a cancer that is rotten to the root.” Should Biden be elected president, Trump believes that police departments throughout the country will be defunded, leaving every city looking like Portland.
The same evening, leftist mobs went after several high-profile Republicans and their spouses as they left the president’s speech. Senator Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley, were accosted by violent protesters. Some of them were yelling at him to say the name of Breonna Taylor, a police shooting victim from his state. In an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, Kelley Paul recounted the frightening confrontation, saying that she believes they would have been knocked to the ground had two police officers not helped them.
U.S. News pointed out that although some demonstrators were wearing masks, no one was practicing social distancing, which is a recurring theme in the protests we’ve seen around the nation.
Representative Ken Buck (R-Colorado) called for an investigation by the Department of Justice into who is funding these violent protests. Paul said that some of the protesters had been staying in the hotel room next to his, with others also staying on his floor in the same hotel. He wondered who is flying these people into the city and paying for their hotel rooms, saying it is clear they are well-organized and funded.
It’s also not clear who was behind the guillotine. A paper sign for The Palm Collective was posted on it, although it is not known whether someone placed it there afterward or if they were the group responsible for the tasteless display.
According to their website, The Palm Collective’s mission is to “end systemic racism in DC and beyond while creating powerful communities through the power of Collective Action. We are a Black-led organization and are proud to center the voices of our fellow BIPOC members.”
Not surprisingly, we haven’t seen any high-profile Democrats step up and denounce this violent act. Can you imagine the outrage if Trump supporters put on this sort of display with a Biden doll?
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