GOP nominee Donald Trump’s fantasizing to Fox Information’ Sean Hannity final 12 months about performing like a “dictator” solely on “day one” of a possible second administration supplied the inspiration for avenue artist and illustrator Jacob Thomas’ new protest artwork mission.
Thomas earlier this month wheat-pasted prints of his picture of Trump as former Chinese language Communist Chair Mao Zedong — beneath the phrase “Dictator” — in Brooklyn, New York Metropolis, within the first activist artwork protest he’s conducting towards Trump earlier than the 2024 presidential election in November.
“The message is simple: we cannot live in a country led by a dictator,” Thomas instructed HuffPost by way of electronic mail, explaining his mission as to not “change the minds of hardcore Trump supporters” however to “motivate Democrats to vote because if we don’t, we risk losing this critical election.”
“When a sexist, racist, xenophobic, bully represents our country, I not only lose that pride [for America] but also fear for our future,” Thomas defined. “I believe people when they show me who they are, and Trump has made it clear: he’ll be a dictator from day one. He will stop at nothing to win.”
Thomas expressed specific concern over Undertaking 2025. The correct-wing Heritage Basis suppose tank’s prolonged playbook is extensively anticipated to kind the idea of coverage in a attainable second Trump White Home.
Elevated scrutiny of the doc has, nevertheless, prompted the previous president to attempt to distance himself from it and its extra extremist, doubtlessly vote-losing methods. Trump’s dismissal, although, has been slammed by MSNBC’s Ali Velshi and others as “complete and utter B.S.”
Undertaking 2025 will flip America “into a Hitler-like regime where our freedoms are stripped away,” feared Thomas. Trump “has lied to America so much that we’re numb to it, but he can’t hide his true nature — which is a complete tyrant.”
Thomas desires to distribute his paintings to activists nationwide and has launched a crowd-fundraising initiative on GoFundMe to take action.
“With support, we can print and distribute more pieces on the streets, especially in areas like construction sites with temporary walls and heavily graffitied neighborhoods where this kind of art thrives. The more support we have, the more cities we can hit,” he instructed HuffPost.
“More comparisons to dictators” — resembling these above of Trump because the Soviet Union’s Josef Stalin and Italy’s Benito Mussolini ― will likely be printed alongside extra humorous pop artwork takes, resembling Trump as Donald Duck (seen beneath), he mentioned.
And with the tip of President Joe Biden’s reelection marketing campaign, described by Thomas as “the best thing he could’ve done for our country,” the artist teased future photographs boosting Vice President Kamala Harris “assuming she is our candidate” or “whomever the candidate will be to rally our base.”
Have you ever seen or created any protest artwork or avenue artwork? Electronic mail your photographs and data to lee.moran@huffpost.com or ship a direct message by way of Instagram.
