A man standing behind Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Nevada this week appeared to mock the president with a t-shirt that read “Very Stable Genius.”
The man was in the background as Trump spoke to supporters in Las Vegas on Thursday night, with CNBC White House reporter Christina Wilkie sharing a picture of him on Twitter . The shirt made reference to a now-famous tweet from Trump in 2017 in which he responded to questions of his mental stability by declaring that he is a “stable genius.” He used the phrase “very stable genius” again later that year at a NATO summit, Newsweek noted.
Democrats have used the phrase against Trump, even introducing something called the “Stable Genius Act” in Congress, which would require presidential candidates to pass a mental exam before being able to run for the highest office in the United States. But supporters of the president have used it as a term of endearment, and even Wilkie admitted it was impossible to tell if the man was wearing the shirt ironically.
This is now the second time in just a few weeks that someone apparently mocking Donald Trump at one of his own campaign rallies has garnered viral attention. Earlier this month, a high school student named Tyler Linfesty became a hero on Twitter after he made a series of incredulous faces during Trump’s more outlandish statements at a rally in Montana. Linfesty captured national attention during a live video of the rally, and even more so when security quietly escorted him away and had him instead replaced with an attractive young woman.
After being escorted away from the stands, Linfesty said he was taken to a small room and questioned by Secret Service before being asked to leave the premises.
“They didn’t really tell me anything. I think I know why they removed me, before they really they told us we had to be enthusiastic and I wasn’t doing that because I wasn’t enthusiastic,” he told CNN . “I wasn’t happy about what he was saying.”
Hey look. There’s a man right behind Trump right now wearing a shirt that says “Very Stable Genius.” Unclear if he’s doing it ironically. pic.twitter.com/xfNXOv3s18
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) September 21, 2018
But Linfesty said he didn’t intend to create a viral stir with his funny faces, instead he just wanted to see what Donald Trump had to say.
“I didn’t really have a plan,” Linfesty said. “I was just going to clap for things I agreed with and not clap for things I didn’t agree with.”
The identity of the man wearing the “Very Stable Genius” t-shirt behind Donald Trump has not been revealed, nor have his intentions with the shirt.
