‘Baby Trump’ balloon stabbed and deflated at Alabama protest

The baby Trump balloon lies deflated after being slashed during an anti-Trump protest

A towering Baby Trump protest balloon was knifed and deflated by someone unhappy with its appearance during Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to Alabama, organisers said.

The incident occurred during the president’s visit to watch a University of Alabama football game. The balloon, which is more than 20 feet tall, was set up in a nearby park.

Jim Girvan, the organizer of a group that “adopts” out Baby Trump balloons for protests, said a man charged the balloon with a knife and cut an 8-foot gash in the back. Girvan said the unidentified man was taken into custody.

The orange, diaper-clad, cellphone-clutching caricature of the president is often taken to Trump appearances as a way to protest against him.

Baby Trump first rose over London, when local activists brainstormed a way to troll Trump. Now several groups raise money to bring balloon replicas around the US.

Robert Kennedy, a volunteer “baby sitter” who brought the balloon to Tuscaloosa, said the balloon immediately began to sag after it was cut.

The day had been going mostly smoothly, Kennedy said. Some people yelled “Trump 2020” as they passed while others posed for selfies with the balloon. But then Kennedy said a man sidled up on the back of the balloon and attacked it with a knife. He ran away but was caught by police officers, Kennedy said.

Police have not released the name or picture of the suspect at this time.

Kennedy said he’s accompanied Baby Trump to many appearances and never witnessed an attack on the balloon, although someone did stab a Baby Trump balloon in London earlier this year.

“It is rare to get that kind of anger,” Kennedy said.

The ‘Baby Trump’ balloon was brought to Tuscaloosa Saturday to protest the presence of President Donald Trump at the game.

Donors raised the $4,000 needed to rent the balloon earlier this week.

When asked for comment the organization that owns ‘Baby Trump’ said the deflation doesn’t make much of a difference to them, “We have 6 [Baby Trump balloons] and will persist to resist the Liar-in-Chief.”