ORLANDO, Fla. – President Donald Trump is coming to Orlando on Tuesday, and so will his 20-foot-high, diapered doppelgänger.
The “Baby Trump” balloon is scheduled to make an appearance at the Win With Love Rally outside the Stonewall Bar on Tuesday evening, just down the road from Trump’s 2020 campaign kickoff rally at the Amway Center.
Baby Trump, a giant Trump caricature in a diaper, first appeared in the United Kingdom during Trump’s visit there last year. But it gained so much notice that money was raised to create six clones in the U.S.
The first American version appeared in Florida at a West Palm Beach rally in September for the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria.
A GoFundMe campaign started last week to raise funds for the helium needed to inflate the balloon in Orlando was successful, going over its $3,500 goal by $400 as of Monday.
In addition to the helium canisters need to inflate it – pricey these days in the midst of a worldwide helium shortage – the balloon also comes with more than a ton of gear and 12 volunteers, said activist Mark Offerman.
“All the stuff you never thought about as a kid watching (balloons) on TV,” Offerman said.
Protest organizer Ida Eskamani said because the event is within a specific perimeter of the Trump event, the balloon will not be able to go afloat but will have to stay on the ground.
“Like any baby, it needs to be taken care of, and we’ll have a number of folks monitoring Baby Trump,” she said. “(But) you can see him in the plastic flesh.”
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