Act of God Grounds 'Baby Trump' Balloon
The “Baby Trump” balloon made another appearance Thursday during the Fourth of July celebration in Washington. What a shame it was grounded.
Yes, it’s not like the infamous balloon (we sometimes call it a blimp, but given the fact that it’s roughly 20 feet by 20 feet, it’s difficult to say that it’s going to be mistaken for anything from Goodyear) was going to fly that high, anyway.
Code Pink had brought the balloon — which depicts a bloated, perma-orange President Donald Trump in a diaper, mouth agape, clutching a cellphone — to D.C. to “challeng[e] ‘supreme leader’ wannabe Trump for politicizing and militarizing our national holiday” via his “Salute to America.” Yawn.
However, the balloon was grounded for two reasons. First, the National Park Service wouldn’t allow the group to fill Baby Trump with helium, citing a ban on balloons on the National Mall. Code Pink claimed it had only wanted the balloon to be two feet off of the ground, but that wasn’t going to happen, given the fact the permit called for cold air only. At least it got the protesters some attention, though.
But an act of God ensured the balloon wouldn’t stay inflated for the entire day.
WRC-TV’s Mark Segraves reported on the situation:
The impending storm has claimed it first victim at the Fourth of July national mall events. #babytrumpblimp has been taken down because the storm is coming in. pic.twitter.com/cGRKTOoIvM
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) July 4, 2019
Given the fact that balloons and lightning tend not to play well with each other, Code Pink was forced to deflate the balloon until the storm passed.
But all good things must come to an end, as Segraves would document later:
He’s baaaack. #babytrumpblimp is being re inflated by @codepink pic.twitter.com/edy6VBYHez
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) July 4, 2019
The reinflation seemed to get a few desultory cheers from the crowd. Or perhaps it was the band playing patriotic music in the background. One way or the other, there was some minor-league cheering going on.
Either way, there’s no better metaphor for the extreme anti-Trump element than a small group of fanatics gathered around a balloon while a patriotic band booms off in the distance.
Unlike in London, where the Baby Trump balloon got plenty of attention when it was trotted out during a recent visit by the president, the balloon didn’t get much press this time. In fact, if it wasn’t for the spat over the permit, I don’t think that I would have heard anything about it at all.
At least it got the attention of one particular White House correspondent, because of course it did.
Ready to take flight pic.twitter.com/V5CsmSQv3U
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 4, 2019
Let the “dear diary” retweets begin.
Acosta may have noticed it, but most people seem to have invested a lot more energy into the parade, which figures. Baby Trump simply doesn’t get the kind of attention it did when it first appeared.
In fact, the only attention it got was when it was announced that it wouldn’t take flight and then when it was deflated.
Good job, guys. This was clearly all worth it.
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