Demonstrators mocked US President Donald Trump with a giant balloon depicting him as a screaming orange baby Friday as tens of thousands march through the streets of London to protest the American leader's visit to the UK.
The diaper-clad infant, with a quiff of hair and a mobile phone for tweeting, is scheduled to soar over the Houses of Parliament, the centerpiece of demonstrations protesting Trump's policies on issues ranging from immigration and race relations to women and climate change.
"This was just a bunch of friends who got together in a pub," said Kevin Smith, one of the 16 people behind the balloon. "This is what people need to be doing - to come together in their communities to organize and work out how to stand against right wing populism and xenophobia that we're seeing not just in the US but in Europe."
Anger over Trump's visit has already had consequences. Just a week after Trump's inauguration, Prime Minister Theresa May invited the president for a state visit, the type of event that normally includes glittering horse-drawn carriages and a state dinner hosted by the monarch. That morphed into this two-day "working visit" with much less pomp and circumstance amid concern about security and crowds in central London.
Protest organisers say they plan to stage demonstrations in some 50 cities around the UK.
"We hope that wherever Donald Trump goes, he hears and sees the strength of a British opinion that rejects not just him as a person and however distasteful he is as a person, but the policies and politics that he represents," said Asad Rehman, organiser of UK Protests Against Trump's Visit.
Trump will spend very little time in London, having stayed in the capital for a single, well-insulated night at the official residence of the US ambassador in Regent's Park.
Nona Hurkmans, 33, a London-based activist and “Trump babysitter,” says they want to send a message of support to people who have been impacted by #Trump’s policies and to make the point that he is a giant baby pic.twitter.com/npDR80EVL2
— Eliza Mackintosh (@elizamackintosh) July 13, 2018
After arriving in Britain on Thursday afternoon, Trump had dinner at Winston Churchill's birthplace, Blenheim Palace, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) outside London. On Friday, he will travel to the prime minister's country residence, Chequers, for talks with May. Instead of a procession down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, he'll be helicoptered to the garden at Windsor Castle for tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
Trump, in an interview with Britain's Sun newspaper, criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan, saying he had not been "hospitable" to the U.S. government. Khan refused to block the Trump baby balloon.
"I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London," Trump said in an interview published Friday.
...[ Continue to next page ]
Share This Post
