President Donald Trump was met with a wave of anger from locals during his latest weekend away from the White House.
The 79-year-old billionaire didn’t get the warm welcome he likely anticipated when he arrived to take part in one of his favorite pastimes.
And while Americans are dealing with a rising cost of living and the impact of the Iran conflict, he’s off galavanting in secured locations.
But now the White House is scrambling after nonstop reports of two humiliating incidents that Trump will likely be furious about.
With gas prices spiking across the country, it’s no surprise that Trump’s nationwide popularity has been sinking in recent weeks. One woman reportedly expressed her displeasure with the president as he drove on a Virginia expressway to Potomac Falls, Virginia, on April 18, toward his National Golf Club.
“Police officers from various departments blocked traffic along the way. Some drivers on the Fairfax County Parkway rolled down their windows to document the motorcade on their smartphones,” according to White House pool reporter John Bennett‘s X page.
According to the Roll Call editor-at-large, “One woman leaned out of her SUV’s driver’s side window to extend what WWE legend ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin would call the ‘double gun salute.’”
The moment reflects Trump’s interesting introduction decades ago on WWE, where he was warned by Austin not to get under his skin, or he’ll open an “eight billion dollar can of whoop a– and serve it to ya.”
So, when news that Trump was greeted with two middle fingers, Austin’s signature move, as he headed for a round of golf, sparked more vitriol against him.
“Two birds, one big eff you?” one Threads user suggested in reaction to a post covering the Virginian woman’s icy gesture directed at Trump.
While the identity of the bird flipper is unknown, other people still had a lot of praise for her for taking a stand against the current administration while highlighting a wrestler. “Google, what is the Steve Austin double gun salute”? Good for her!”
Leaning further into the WWE jokes, two people added, “Well, it is Wrestlemania Weekend after all,” and “Sometimes, two hands just aren’t enough to convey the magnitude of what you’re feeling.”
In addition, someone who was overly delighted that that woman had flipped the bird to Trump simply exclaimed, “Excellent!!!”
Since stepping into the political arena as the leader of the conservative MAGA movement over a decade ago, Trump has repeatedly been greeted with the insulting salute in the U.S. and overseas on multiple occasions.
One of the most infamous incidents of Trump getting flipped off also happened in Virginia in 2017 during the real estate magnate’s first term as president. A cyclist identified as Juli Briskman was photographed giving the presidential motorcade a left-handed middle finger.
That photo went viral and became one of the lasting images of Trump 1.0, which led to Briskman being fired from her job. However, the longtime marketing specialist went on to win a seat on her local board of supervisors two years later.
Yet another picture of a citizen supposedly showing her frustration with Trump via an offensive hand signal has spread across the internet in the last several days. A different unidentified woman essentially cursed Trump’s procession of motor vehicles with her long finger.
Progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen uploaded a snapshot of a woman flipping the bird while standing on the side of the road as black SUVs drove by. Cohen credits Reuters photographer Nathan Howard for the photo that was purportedly taken on Saturday, but the date of the image has not been confirmed as of this writing. “Give that lady the hero award! We ALL feel that way,” noted one Trump critic.
The president has been a multi-time recipient of middle finger disrespect, but he has also been the one to give the bird as well. In January, a stop at an assembly plant in Michigan made headlines over the president’s response to a heckler.
View on Threads
A worker at the Ford facility taunted Trump over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Cameras then caught the commander in chief yelling back at his tormentor before raising his middle finger toward the man in disgust.
Despite Trump facing widespread backlash, the White House offered a defense for his actions in Dearborn. Communications Director Steven Cheung stated, “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the president gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”
The president and his team should expect more frustrated citizens to vent about the state of the country under Trump’s leadership through words, hand gestures, and memes. Americans continue to sour on the economy and the Iran conflict, causing Trump’s approval rating to hit a record-low 37 percent for his second term.
