Millionaire Blasts Trump With Series Of Messages In The Sky Over Rose Parade
PASADENA (CBSLA.com) — You couldn't miss them.
Up in the sky. And it wasn't a bird, or a plane or Superman. It was, however, some super slams.
A millionaire paid a skywriter Friday to blast Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in front of a capacity crowd who showed up to watch the Rose Parade.
KCAL9's Peter Daut tracked down the millionaire Friday evening and spoke to him by phone.
The messages were unmistakable -- Alabama real estate investor Stan Pate is decidedly not pro Trump.
"America Is Great! Trump Is Disgusting" said one.
"Anybody But Trump" said another.
"Trump Loves To Hate" said yet another.
The messages quickly went viral on social media. And Pate knew they would.
"Just think about where you see that many people. And you can always depend on LA to have a beautiful sky," Pate said.
The Rose Bowl became an unwilling political hotbed as well. The crowd was filled with Iowans there to watch their team get slammed by Stanford. Iowa, of course, is an early caucus state in the primary race.
Pate says he spent $50,000 to get his anti-Trump message across on Friday. Similar messages flew over other bowl games, too -- Sugar, Orange and Cotton.
"This is a very, very ugly man with hate in his heart," Pate said of Trump, "no place for him in the presidential race, and certainly not in the Oval Office."
Pate was an early donor to Marco Rubio's campaign. According to FEC filings, Pate had donated money to both Republicans and Democrats in the past.
But it is his aerial assault on Trump and not his wallet that is garnering headlines.
He told Daut he isn't finished. Yes, he promises more to come.
"When I was a little boy, if you'd have talked like Donald Trump you'd have found a bar of lye soap in your mouth. We gotta make sure that he has to tighten up his saddle," Pate says.
Daut reached out to the Trump campaign for a comment but he did not hear back.
The Rose Bowl became an unwilling political hotbed as well. The crowd was filled with Iowans there to watch their team get slammed by Stanford. Iowa, of course, is an early caucus state in the primary race.