With its eagerly awaited debut scheduled for a public rally in Madison, WI, later today, a sardonic and biting protest sign featuring a clever joke about the size of President Donald Trump’s hands is expected to emerge as a clear favorite among observers both inside and outside the protest.
Rumors about the sign and its trenchant comedic assault on Trump’s deep-seated insecurities began swirling across the University of Wisconsin campus shortly after sophomore theater arts major Mandy Cline first came up with the idea after brainstorming with roommate Kristen Helmer.
“We came up with it and both said at the same time, ‘that’s it!’” Cline reported.
According to Cline, by the time she purchased a 22-by-28-inch white poster board and an eight-pack of assorted chisel-tip Sharpie markers at the campus bookstore to begin creating the sign Thursday, the pithy one-liner was creating buzz in and around the fourth floor of Ogg Hall, where Cline and Helmer reside.
“I think this one is really going to hit Donald Trump where it hurts,” said Kayla Sandoval, a fellow member of the university’s Young Democratic Socialists chapter with inside knowledge of the hotly anticipated piece of political humor. “But honestly, I think it’s going to exceed expectations. This thing is going to both crack people up and make them think. That’s the power of satire.”
The sign tells the 45th president to get his “small hands off the button,” an allusion to Trump’s singular authority as commander-in-chief to deploy the country’s nuclear arsenal as well as an astute reference to a Republican primary debate exchange in which Trump boasted about the size of his hands in a thinly veiled attempt to defend his masculinity. According to all sources contacted for this story, this is the first time a joke predicated on these references has been made.
Sandoval indicated that the sign might have what it takes be featured in background coverage of the protest on tonight’s “27 News @10,” the local ABC affiliate slated to cover to protest. The nightly program reaches over 120,000 Madison viewers.
