Trump fans unfurl 'Never Surrender' banner with his mug shot during national anthem at Yankee Stadium



Fans of former President Donald Trump unfurled a "Never Surrender" banner with his famous mug shot on it during the national anthem Wednesday at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx; Trump is scheduled to hold a rally Thursday evening in the New York City borough.

The "Never Surrender" banner appears to have been inspired by Trump's post on X from last August, which features his mug shot taken after he surrendered at a Georgia jail on charges he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

'I'm going to make a play for New Yorkers.'

Trump's message underneath his mug shot reads, "ELECTION INTERFERENCE" and "NEVER SURRENDER!" along with his web address. It was Trump's first X post since the social media platform, then known as Twitter, banned him on Jan. 6, 2021, in the wake of the Capitol riots.

An X video shows the banner unfurling during the national anthem — and those holding the banner quickly pulled it up when security arrived. The text on the post from the America First Warehouse reads, "Another successful drop @dioncini."

Dion Cini is a Trump supporter and self-proclaimed "professional provocateur" who has attracted controversy in the past while visually supporting Trump. Walt Disney World banned Cini from the park in 2018 for flying pro-Trump signs. A few months later in 2019, a New York City bartender was caught on video kicking out Cini for wearing a red visor displaying the phrase "Make America Great Again" — and the bartender earned a two-week suspension over his "political" actions. Later in 2019 a transgender actor was caught on video fighting Cini over a Trump sign he was holding in New York City.

'Legal version of an ankle bracelet'

Trump’s campaign said Thursday’s rally will take place at 6 p.m. in Crotona Park, which Fox News said is just blocks from the boundary line of far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district.

Ocasio-Cortez said Trump's rally is happening because of his “legal version of an ankle bracelet," The Hill noted, a reference to the headline-grabbing Stormy Daniels' trial in Manhattan he's required to attend.

“Donald Trump is broke. He needs money. He’s hosting a rally to try to con people and try to fleece them out of every dollar that they have to fund his own legal fees,” Ocasio-Cortez added, according to the outlet. “And by the way, he’s doing it in the South Bronx, not to make a point, but because he’s got court, and the man practically has the legal version of an ankle bracelet around him, and he can’t leave the five boroughs because he always has to be in court. And so it is truly an embarrassment to him.”

WABC-TV reported that labor and civil rights groups are planning to hold a counterrally in the park at the same time; a poster for that events reads, "Trump isn't welcome in the Bronx."

Some residents of the borough beg to differ, telling Fox News they're squarely behind the former president.

'They all want us to run, and we're going to run very hard in New York.'

"Senior citizens cannot walk down the street. Our children are being killed. When you go to a grocery store, you can't even buy anything anymore," Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr., president of New York's Hispanic Clergy Association, told the cable news network. "I’m a Democrat. All my life I've been a Democrat, but Democrats have used us and abused us; they think that they own us. Donald Trump is giving us an opportunity."

Last month, Trump visited the Harlem deli where a worker fatally stabbed an attacker in self-defense in 2022 — and the crowd that greeted Trump turned in a pretty loud "four more years!" A week after that, Trump shook hands and posed for photos with construction workers outside the JP Morgan Chase Building at East 48th Street and Park Avenue, WCBS reported.

"I'm going to make a play for New Yorkers. They said, I just heard, there was a very good poll that came out. Normally, a Democrat will win New York," Trump said at the time, according to the station. "Biden is the worst president in history, we have some very bad people here, but we have the greatest people and they're right behind me. They all want us to run, and we're going to run very hard in New York."

Trump on May 11 held a massive campaign rally on a Wildwood, New Jersey, beach that drew an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Amid the left's constant climate fearmongering, DNC reportedly books aircraft to fly banner around Milwaukee on night of first GOP presidential primary debate



The Democratic National Committee has reportedly booked an aircraft to fly a banner around Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday night, a move that seems to mark a display of blatant hypocrisy in light of the climate alarmism regularly espoused by Democrats.

According to Politico, the DNC has booked the aircraft to tow a banner with the message "GOP 2024: A Race for the Extreme MAGA Base."

Multiple GOP presidential candidates are slated to participate in the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 election cycle on Wednesday night in Milwaukee. But former President Donald Trump, who is the clear frontrunner in the contest, will be conspicuously absent from the debate stage, as he has opted to skip the event and apparently plans to skip all of the other primary debates as well.

"The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, with Energy Independence, Strong Borders & Military, Biggest EVER Tax & Regulation Cuts, No Inflation, Strongest Economy in History, & much more," Trump recently wrote in a post on Truth Social, while pointing to a poll which indicates that he holds a massive lead over his competitors. "I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!"

Some people took notice of the Democrats' apparent climate hypocrisy.

"The DNC acts terribly worried about carbon emissions," conservative radio host Erick Erickson tweeted in response to the news of the DNC booking a plane to fly a banner.

— (@)

"Apparently plane emissions are only permissible when they’re the DNC's," another person wrote.

"So not really worried about Climate Change...." someone else wrote.

President Joe Biden has previously claimed that the "climate crisis" represents "the only existential threat humanity faces."

— (@)

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

White privilege banner directed at Catholic HS before football game infuriates parents: 'It's not right'



Cheerleaders from a North Carolina high school held up a red banner before a football game Friday directed at their opponents — a Catholic high school — which read, "Sniff, sniff. You smell that? $Privilege$."

The word "privilege" was spelled out with white letters — and parents and other backers of Charlotte Catholic High School were furious and hurt over the banner, which the visiting Butler players ran through.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

What are the details?

The station said Melissa Swanson and her son — who is a fourth-grader and biracial — attended Charlotte Catholic's home football game against Butler High School. And she offered WBTV-TV her interpretation of the banner, which the Butler players ran through: "Here we are at a rich, white high school, and they're all lucky. We have it hard. They don't."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Swanson continued to the station: "And that's not the case — by no means. I am a single mom, and I raise my son on my own, and we pay for that school and work hard to be there."

She also told WBTV that she had to explain the banner to her son when he asked, "Mom, don't they see that we have other black boys on our team?"

Image source: YouTube screenshot

"I just said it's unfortunate that these things have to be discussed every day," Swanson added to the station. "And it's not right, and that's why I am so proud to have him at St. Gabriel and in the Catholic School system because we teach kindness."

She also emphasized to WBTV that among the most "disturbing" aspects of the incident "was it was children. Whether they are high school, elementary school, or middle school — they're children. The administration, the coaches, the athletic director — they had to know it."

How did Butler High's district respond?

Charlotte Mecklenburg School District sent the following statement to WBTV, the station said:

CMS is aware of an insensitive banner displayed by the Butler HS cheerleading squad prior to the school's football game versus Charlotte Catholic last Friday. Squad members and adults responsible for oversight will face consequences as a result of that banner display. School and district officials will offer no specific information about this disciplinary matter. Principal Golden and Learning Community Superintendent Tangela Williams have spoken with leaders from Charlotte Catholic to offer verbal apologies. Butler High School cheerleaders have sent an apology letter to counterparts at Charlotte Catholic. Soon there will be a meeting between the schools' cheerleading squads to facilitate goodwill and understanding.

Kurt Telford, principal of Charlotte Catholic, issued a forgiving statement, WBTV said:

We appreciate the outreach we've received from the Butler High School community and are confident our good relationship with them will continue. We understand how emotions surrounding sports events can sometimes result in actions that do not represent an organization's values. It is our hope that everyone will learn from such moments because at the end of the day we are all one community.

But one Butler parent backs banner creators

Alford Terry, a parent of a Butler student, told WSOC-TV he stands by the students who created the sign: "It's reality. I mean you can get upset as a parent, but kids, they have a mind of their own and they see things as what they are. We have to listen to what they have to say."

CMS offers apology to Charlotte Catholic High School for insensitive sign at football gameyoutu.be