On a normal day, US President Donald Trump’s rallies make headlines for his extraordinary statements, but this time it was different. While he was addressing a rally in Billings, Montana, Tyler Linfesty, a 17-year-old high school senior, had animated expressions on his face in response to Trump’s statements.
That was all, really. Just expressions, and a mouthed “What!” at something he found particularly absurd. And yet, he was taken out of the audience. That was because he was standing directly behind the President, which meant that the cameras were picking it all up.
But if the idea was to not let people see Linfesty’s disapproval, the strategy backfired. Because he has gone viral on the internet with the nickname “plaid shirt guy”.
In an interview with CNN, Linfesty said, “They didn’t tell me anything, really...Before the rally, they told us, we have to be enthusiastic, you have to be clapping, you have to be cheering for Donald Trump and I wasn’t doing that because I wasn’t happy with what he was saying.”
After he was replaced, Secret Service officials detained him for a short inspection before he was let off “respectfully” and asked to “never come back”.
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