Remember the Plaid Shirt Guy who subtly trolled president Trump at his Montana rally on Friday by pulling hilarious faces behind his back?
Well, his true identity has finally been revealed by the Daily Beast. Seventeen-year-old Tyler Linfesty of Billings, Montana, gained international fame after footage of his bemused, confused, and angry expressions reacting to the president's speech went viral.
High schooler Linfesty, who sported a blue plaid shirt at the rally, also wore a sticker for the Democratic Socialists of America organisation, pulled a hilarious face each time Trump said something he deemed questionable.
The whole sequence was captured in a string of tweets by Business Insider reporter David Choi, and posted to Twitter:
One of the audience members reacts to Trump's speech in Montana: "Today's Democrat Party is held hostage by haters,… https://t.co/5x7LdDYkb9— David Choi (@David Choi) 1536300895
"They had me stomping around screaming with anger, up in my area of the White House, where I lived with my wife and… https://t.co/4Z93xnUHCA— David Choi (@David Choi) 1536301437
"Why are they so filled with this much hatred? Why? Our country's thriving, jobs are booming, prosperity is soaring… https://t.co/RBDjtV1rgo— David Choi (@David Choi) 1536301877
"We were low and we were headed down. We freed up this country with the regulations, and the tax cuts. We freed up… https://t.co/FfpeUBhIXJ— David Choi (@David Choi) 1536302371
Surprisingly, Linfesty's position in the rally wasn't chosen, it was a simple act of fate, as seats are allotted randomly in rallies, writes the Daily Dot.
I was randomly chosen.
When people signed up to go to the rally, their names were placed into a draw and I was chosen. Because I won, I got an opportunity to meet the president.
A particular highlight was when Trump claims that he's picked up support for his deep state conspiracy theory, and Linfesty can be seen mouthing 'Have you?' right behind him:
@DonnaBesneatte @RanttMedia this was one of my favorites ‘we’ve picked up a lot of support’ plaid shirt guy ‘HAVE Y… https://t.co/EjFeUjksZz— Katie Moeser (@Katie Moeser) 1536304374
Speaking to the Daily Beast, Linfesty went into a bit more detail about what really happened. At one point, he's replaced by a blonde woman, and is walked out of the rally by some secret service men.
He recalled the woman saying:
I’m going to take your place now.
He then explained what happened after he was 'disappeared' from his position:
I knew that I was getting kicked out for not clapping so I didn’t fight it.
Some Secret Service guys took me backstage and told me to wait. After about 10 minutes they told me to leave and not come back and that was it.
He also told the publication that his reactions weren't planned, but were simply his natural response to what Trump was saying.
When he said something crazy, I thought ‘Wow that's crazy,’ and when he said something I thought was reasonable I thought, ‘well, that's reasonable.’ ”
I took each issue individually.
As for his socialist sticker, he commented:
I am part of the Democratic Socialists of America, but I identify as a social democrat, like Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Linfesty was also interviewed on CNN, where he made the same claims that his actions were natural and weren't acted out.
"I was not trying to protest." This high school student was nicknamed #PlaidShirtGuy after he was asked to leave a… https://t.co/sTKXhnjLja— Don Lemon Tonight (@Don Lemon Tonight) 1536378784
Speaking to the news reporter, he said:
Each time I see one of these rallies, I see people behind Donald Trump clapping and cheering and being super enthusiastic.
I’ve always wondered myself, are those people really being genuine?
So when I got back there, I knew I was going to be genuine.
HT Daily Dot
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