Anti-Brexit group taunts Trump with images of USS John McCain and Obama's approval rating projected onto London landmarks
Londoners are making quite the effort to taunt Donald Trump during his U.K. visit. The anti-Brexit group "Led by Donkeys" appears to be going above and beyond simple protests by using large-scale images projected onto London landmarks.
The group typically protests Brexit by plastering tweets and comments made my British leaders on buildings and billboards. On Monday night, they turned their attention towards Mr. Trump, who arrived that day in London with the first lady.
A red hat featuring the USS John McCain appeared on the facade of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum that evening. "Hey @realDonaldTrump, we read the story about the sailors on a US warship being ordered to hide from you because you're triggered by the name on their hats," Led by Donkeys tweeted. "So we turned Madame Tussaud's into a giant USS John McCain baseball cap. Welcome to London!"
The activist group is referring to reports that the USS Joh McCain warship was kept out of Mr. Trump's sight when he was visiting Japan last month. CBS News confirmed officers were told to hide the ship, which is named after the late Republican senator, who Mr. Trump publicly feuded with for years.
Hey @realDonaldTrump, we read the story about the sailors on a US warship being ordered to hide from you because you’re triggered by the name on their hats. So we turned Madame Tussaud's into a giant USS John McCain baseball cap. Welcome to London! pic.twitter.com/KuynOwupFm
— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) June 3, 2019
Hi @realDonaldTrump. Just so you know, you’re wildly unpopular here in Britain. SAD! People REALLY don’t like you (though they love @BarackObama). Hope you like seeing your FAILING approval numbers projected onto the Tower of London. #TrumpUKvisit pic.twitter.com/oT332Fd6fE
— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) June 3, 2019
Led by Donkeys also projected an image of President Obama's approval ratings compared to Mr. Trump's on the Tower of London. Whereas Obama had a 72% U.K. approval rating, Trump had a 21% U.K. approval rating, according to YouGov statistics cited by the group.
In addition to the USS John McCain and Obama approval rating projections, the group also projected a video of hardline Brexit supporter Boris Johnson speaking unfavorably about Mr. Trump onto Big Ben.
"I think Donald Trump is clearly out of his mind," Johnson says in the clip, speaking about Mr. Trump's proposed Muslim ban. "I have to say, when Donald Trump says there are parts of London that are 'no-go areas,' I think he's betraying a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him, frankly, unfit to hold the office of the President of the United States."
Hey @realDonaldTrump, you just endorsed your Brexit buddy @BorisJohnson but he said some VERY NASTY things about you and he doesn’t want you to know. So we projected his words onto Big Ben. Watch with the SOUND ON #TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/etUb6tk9eX
— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) June 3, 2019
Led by Donkeys is not the only group protesting Mr. Trump during his visit. Demonstrations across the country were planned, as they were during the Trumps' prior visits.
Last year, a "Trump Baby" balloon was permitted to fly above the city by Mayor Sadiq Khan. The diaper-clad angry baby balloon is set to fly again on Tuesday. Mr. Trump again has taken issue with Mayor Khan, calling him a "stone cold loser," on Twitter just as he arrived in the country.
I never called Meghan Markle “nasty.” Made up by the Fake News Media, and they got caught cold! Will @CNN, @nytimes and others apologize? Doubt it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 2, 2019
And Khan isn't the only person in the U.K. to catch Mr. Trump's ire. Just days before the president's arrival, he was quoted by British tabloid newspaper The Sun as saying of Meghan Markle, "I didn't know she was nasty."