It all started about a year ago when someone thought it would be fun to try to shut me down by spray painting a library of vulgarities all over a comparatively smaller 3’x8’ vinyl “Trump 2020 – Promises Made – Promises Kept” banner I had hanging on my fence. Today there are people as far away as Canada asking: “Have you seen that Trump house?”
At my age (61), I’ve learned a few things, and one of the more important things I’ve learned is that you never back down from a bully. Backing down from a bully only makes them believe they can take something from you. So, rather than throw the vandalized banner away, I took it inside and spent the next three hours scrubbing off the f-bombs and other assorted vulgarities. But I left some paint there. I was going to hang it back up and I wanted the person (or people) who did that to know they did not defeat me. They did not diminish my enthusiasm or support for Donald Trump. In fact, they strengthened my resolve and inspired me to go bigger. That’s why I painted the mural in the first place and why I chose a particular Trump quote on the first version:
“You have to think anyway, so why not think BIG?”
We also had an extensive security/surveillance system installed. That enabled me to see the person who tried to tear my vandalized banner from the fence only to leave it hanging by it’s last grommet. I repaired it and hung it back on the fence… again.
My immediate neighbors support my endeavor. I live in a very Pro-Trump neighborhood. Even some who live further away have come by to tell me how much they like the mural.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
The house has become somewhat of a local attraction. People are always driving by and taking photos. Some ask if they can stand in front of it for photos. I always oblige.
I knew the house would attract attention, some good, some bad. But I never imagined it would draw such hatred.
Since I painted the mural I have been doxed, threatened with physical harm, and had people threaten to burn my house down… with me in it. The level of seething vitriol is absolutely astounding.
As I watch the growing number of liberals swarming to the photos I shared on a community Facebook Group, I keep asking myself: What is it, precisely, that compels them to troll social media looking for posts they don’t like, just because they think it’s their right to try to shame total strangers who like something they hate?
I mean, there are literally hundreds of them now, slapping their childish little laugh emojis on the photos of the house and any positive comments made by others. It’s amazing how eager these self-righteous social media bullies are to demonstrate how hateful and viciously intolerant “woke” people are of people who dare to disagree with them.
The majority of these haters don’t even live in Florida. Some of them don’t even the United States. I’ve checked some of their profiles. There are teachers, mothers, fathers, self-absorbed selfie divas and misguided white kids believing that if they show they support Black Lives Matter and/or ANTIFA they will find the acceptance they so desperately crave. There has even been a Mormon missionary and a developmental specialist in Reno, Nevada! But most of them are kids… “woke” yet unemployed members of the Tide-Pod-Snacker generation who are still living off their parents.
One woman from San Francisco, CA was so triggered when she saw my mural on her local news she actually bought a “sympathy” card, scrawled her hateful thoughts inside, put a stamp on it and mailed it to my house so I would know precisely what she thought of me for daring to support Donald Trump. It’s amazing how much these loathsome narcissists believe I care what they think.
Now, since Donald Trump left the White House, I have had many people ask – some with anxious glee — when I plan on painting over the mural. My answer? I’m not. I’m revising it. I’m adding to it. I’m making it bigger.
That’s what happens when someone tries to shame me for believing in something they hate. That’s how I roll when someone vandalizes my property or my posts with their silly little laugh emojis and their vile, intolerant comments. I become more resolute in standing up for what I believe in. I become more determined to profess my convictions louder.
I have a corner lot, lots of paint and the willingness to do whatever it takes to stand up for something I believe in.
They are lazy. They stand for nothing. They will wear out before I do.
