What do you do when you’re crushing your health goals, out cycling on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and then in the midst of your peace, tranquility and gains-getting, President Donald Trump’s motorcade passes by?
You flip it off, of course.
At least that was one cyclist’s response Saturday after she encountered the president’s motorcade as it was en route from his Sterling, Va., golf club.
And she didn’t just do it once. She made her feelings very clear about the whole thing.
The Guardian’s David Smith chronicled the eventful trip back to the White House in a pool report, noting:
POTUS’s motorcade departed the Trump National Golf Club at 3.12 p.m., passing two pedestrians, one of whom gave a thumbs down sign. Then it overtook a female cyclist, wearing a white top and cycling helmet, who responded by giving the middle finger. The motorcade had to slow and the cyclist caught up, still offering the finger, before turning off in a different direction. Motorcade is now gathering speed and heading for DC.
It is not known if Trump saw the cyclist’s salute from his vehicle, but it’s anyone’s guess as to what his reaction would have been.
Of course, as the Washington Post notes, Trump is not even close to being the first president to be on the receiving end of citizens’ ire.
Back in 2001 a teenager egged Bill Clinton, striking the former president on the arm. Security wrestled the teen to the ground, but by all accounts, Clinton shrugged it off, saying, “It was good for young people to be angry about something,” according to his spokesperson.
And who could forget George W. Bush, who not only was dealt crude hand gestures but also, as I’m sure you would remember, had to famously dodge shoes thrown by an Iraqi TV reporter while at a news conference at a Baghdad palace in 2008?
“This is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog,” the reporter, Muntadar al-Zaidi, yelled as he threw the first shoe. “This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq.”
Bush, however, laughed the incident off.
Read more at The Guardian and the Washington Post.