During the annual Farmers Fair Parade, Frank Linkmeyer’s float showed the figure of a woman in the likeness of candidate Clinton sitting in an electric chair, with the figure of a man made up to closely resemble Donald Trump preparing to pull the lever. There was also an Easter Island-style statue of a head, painted black, with a sign that said "Obama."
Linkmeyer told local station WCPO "It definitely was all for laughter. We’ve always had floats for laughter…There’s never been anything else but that," denying that his float had racist undertones.
The 76-year-old Democrat said that the Obama likeness was placed on the float as an afterthought, adding, "I could’ve taken and put Donald Trump in that float and had Hillary pull the handle. Nevertheless, I would have never pleased everybody and it was definitely all for laughter."
The Lion’s Club community service organization that sponsors the parade and approves the floats, released a statement that "The parade is a public venue which does not reflect the views of the Aurora Lions Club. As a member of a worldwide service organization, we are proud and standby our record of service to this community."
"For us to be in 2016 and have our president depicted as an Easter Island statue in blackface, which doesn’t even make any sense, but it’s just as racist as can be," Jackie Reynolds, an Aurora local who attended the parade, remarked. Reynolds said she doubts she’ll participate in the parade next year.
Clinton was lampooned in early August when Melbourne, Australia, graffiti artist Lushsux painted the Democratic presidential nominee in a revealing American flag patterned bathing suit with dollars bills stuffed in the side. Lushsux balked when the town council ordered the mural removed, particularly when a similar mural of Donald Trump in another part of town was left uncovered.
Later that month, nude statues of Donald Trump appeared in Manhattan, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and Cleveland. The statues were constructed by a Las Vegas artist called Ginger, who was reportedly commissioned to build the statues by anarchist artist collective Indecline.
