It was just a few short days ago that Trump critics and some supporters were condemning a doctored video of President Trump violently assaulting members of the press and others. The video was shown during a political conference and few people actually saw it. Thanks to social media, though, millions of others saw it.
Fast forward to this weekend. It is as though the left and anti-Trump forces are hypocrites or something. The violence wished upon President Trump from them is right in front of us. Taking a page from the Kathy Griffin book of political activism, singer/actress and devoted hater of Trump, Barbra Streisand, tweeted out a gruesome drawing of President Trump impaled by a Louboutin stiletto heel – an expensive shoe brand instantly recognizable for its red soles. (a.k.a. red bottoms.) Pelosi is lettered on the shoe’s heel. It was Streisand’s homage to Pelosi’s infamous temper tantrum during her last face-to-face meeting with the president and congressional leaders.
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) October 19, 2019
Streisand also tweeted out a drawing from a New York Magazine article advocating for Trump’s impeachment. The drawing is a giant peach (get it?) squashing Trump. A little too on the nose, but the message is clear.
One may argue about a narrow or broad impeachment resolution but Trump has committed multiple impeachable acts. https://t.co/jABlGwWuH4
— Barbra Streisand (@BarbraStreisand) October 19, 2019
Perhaps Ms. Streisand will receive a visit from the Secret Service as Kathy Griffin did. That impalement image is a lot stronger and more violent than the standard lame drawings of Trump from his opponents.
The second example from this weekend’s Trump Derangement Syndrome watch comes from a small athletic wear company based in Portland, Oregon, Dhvani. They sell $58 yoga pants, among other clothing items. The company paid for a thirty-foot billboard in Times Square depicting Trump being hogtied in front of the White House by an angry woman in athletic wear. The model playing Trump is a former Marine, now a middle school teacher. I wonder what he’ll have to say to his students about this.
The billboard featuring a model binding a Trump look-alike with red, white and blue rope while stomping on his face, was put up as part of an advertising campaign by Dhvani, a Portland-based clothing company. https://t.co/XnKeFxAubV
— WBRC FOX6 News (@WBRCnews) October 19, 2019
Another image was tweeted out of the Trump model being gagged, surrounded by five women models. Dhvani is taking aim at the Trump administration’s efforts to block federal funding for Planned Parenthood. The president needs a gag order, you see. Marketing experts are split in their opinions of the effectiveness of this ad, though they all agree that this is “the most extreme example of politically charged advertising to date.” Dhvani has a goal of “creating change in the world.”
The idea began with “a lightning bolt of inspiration” over the summer, Dhvani’s chief executive, Avi Brown, said in an interview Friday with The Post. The billboard shows a Trump impersonator being tied up by model Michal Mesa, a Marine Corps veteran and middle school teacher.
Symbolism figures heavily in the photo, Brown said. The red, white and blue rope was inspired by Wonder Woman’s “truth lasso,” while the looming storm “represents the inevitable and supernatural power of justice.” The impersonator’s face, he said, is pixelated, though that is not obvious in photographs. “We certainly know who it evokes, but it’s not that person,” he said. “It’s more of a metaphorical statement.”
The marketing campaign, which was photographed in August, also includes images of a Trump impersonator being bound, gagged and shushed. In one photo, a model is holding his phone while he is sitting on a golden toilet, pants pulled down around his ankles. In another, a woman is pulling a piece of duct tape over his mouth.
“This is about giving a voice to women,” said Brown, 46, who founded the company last year. “Our intent is for our brand to stand for progressive change in the face of what we perceive to be steps backward in the evolution of our country.”
Well, Avi Brown may want to use his little clothing company to advance his political ideology but he eliminates about half of his potential buyers by doing so. Perhaps after the response that his company’s tweets have received, he’ll get a clearer picture of retail consumerism. Brown is “fed up” and supports impeachment. This campaign was created in August, by the way, and therefore ahead of the dumb video’s release at that conservative political conference.
“We’ve never taken a political stand before but frankly, we were fed up,” Brown said, adding he was inspired by Nike’s advertising campaign with Colin Kaepernick — the former NFL quarterback who sparked a movement by his refusal to stand during the national anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality. “This is just saying: Let’s put a gag order on him. Enough is enough. We support impeachment.”
That’s standard rhetoric from the authoritarian left these days. If someone vocalizes a different political opinion, that person must be dehumanized and told to shut up. In this case, a model playing President Trump is literally being gagged. Their protest of the Trump administration’s “gag rule” prohibiting doctors at Planned Parenthood Title X-funded clinics from referring patients for abortions also morphs into a cry for impeachment. Mr. Brown said he is “rebranding Dhvani as an “Activ(ist)Wear” company and will donate a portion of its proceeds to nonprofits that provide health care to women.” Planned Parenthood, however, doesn’t want Brown’s money. At least not from this violent campaign.
“Our staff members have faced threats and acts of violence for doing their jobs, and many of our patients turn to us as their safe space for care after facing violence in their lives,” Melanie Newman, senior vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “We do not condone violence or violent imagery against anyone.”
Even Planned Parenthood doesn’t want to stand with this garbage advertising campaign.
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