Anti-Trump inflatable chicken to roost in San Francisco during planned fundraiser
Former President Donald Trump will be in San Francisco on Thursday for a fundraiser hosted by tech billionaires -- and a 33-foot-tall inflatable bird lookalike will greet him.
Towering three stories tall, the Trump Chicken has a gold side-swept hairdo and a black-and-white prison uniform. Danelle Morton, one of the organizers of the demonstration, scrambled to collect a crew to steer the bird across San Francisco Bay during the fundraising event.
"I think the point of sailing the chicken has to be made, right? I mean, it'd be so much better if we're doing it while the man was actually standing there. But even if we don't, I feel like just getting it done is a victory," Morton said.
It's not the first time the bird has loomed over San Francisco. Morton and other organizers first erected the chicken in 2017 during the city's Trump Tax March; they inflated it again for another appearance in 2018, and yet again in 2021 after Biden was elected.
Since then, the Trump Chicken has been collecting dust in a storage facility. Morton said she never thought there would be an occasion to bring out the bird again.
Trump's fundraiser will be co-hosted by David and Jacqueline Sacks as well as investor Chamath Palihapitiya. David Sacks stands out as a champion of Trump among San Francisco's elite, who tend to spend big on Democratic campaigns instead.
Invitations advertise VIP tickets to the event at $50,000 per person, but those wishing to join the host committee need to cough up $300,000 each.
Besides the chicken, Trump's upcoming visit has yet to spark murmurings of bigger demonstrations. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden's fundraising trip to the Bay Area last month was met with dozens of pro-Palestine protesters.
