A 20-foot-tall blimp depicting U.S. President Donald Trump as a baby took flight on Friday morning in London, with thousands of protesters marched the streets to show their discontent against the president and his policies.
The giant balloon named “Trump Baby” was released for two hours near the U.K.’s Houses of Parliament, where “Stop Trump” protesters were marching in central London.
The angry-orange baby balloon has caused a lot of controversy over the last few months. At first, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan did not authorizs its use, but he then changed his mind after more than 10,000 people signed a petition calling for him to do so. Khan explained in an interview that there’s no reason to stop the balloon given that it is a safe and peaceful way of protesting.
Speaking to CNBC Thursday, Drew Liquerman, the chairman of Republicans Overseas said: “Some of these protests are quite embarrassing and cringeworthy, specifically the balloon.”
Sheila Menon, one of the organisers of the balloon, told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick that the protest had become so popular because “so many people have a very strong opinion about President Trump.”
“Whether it is about racism, treatment of migrants and refugees, the contribution to the refugee crisis, and attitude to climate change, the denial of climate change, misogyny … All of these things are evident in Trump’s policies and this is our opportunity to protest against them,” she added.
‘Trump Baby’ follows Trump?
There’s a new petition calling for the baby balloon to be taken to Scotland and for it to fly over the golf course where Trump will be present on Saturday.
At the time of writing 13,554 people had already signed the petition.
Trump has complained that the blimp — paid for by anti-Trump protestors — had made him “feel unwelcome.”
Source: CNBC and Business Insider
