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Donald Trump Auto Decal Riles Social Media

An image combining two disparate political decals has caught the attention of social media users.

Published Oct. 16, 2016

In mid-October 2016, social media users began sharing a image seemingly showing a vehicle (reportedly seen in Orlando, Florida) bearing an unusual political decal — a Confederate flag figure kicking an LGBT rainbow flag figure, above the legend "TRUMP 2016":

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Most of the interest in the image seemed to be of the "Is this real?" form — that is, inquiring whether someone is actually vending Trump campaign decals like the one seen above. From what we can tell, it appears someone has combined two different commonly available decals to make a larger (and some would say disturbing) political statement.

Decals showing the Confederate flag figure kicking an LGBT rainbow flag figure, and vice-versa, are easy enough to find and purchase online:

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Decals with the campaign legend "TRUMP 2016" in white block letters (suitable for affixing to car bodies or windows) are also easy enough to find and purchase online:

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Combine the two, and ... well, brief social media fame.

As far as being a literal political statement, this image doesn't seem to have much to do with specific Trump campaign positions. Championing the display of Confederate flags (a controversy that flared in mid-2015) hasn't really been a position espoused by Donald Trump, and the Republican nominee's stance on LGBT rights has been inconsistent, to say the least.

However, many social media users see this image as one that reflects the Trump campaign in a metaphoric sense, serving as an "example of how Trump has emboldened haters and is inciting violence against vulnerable minorities" and being emblematic of "recent threats of violence from Trump supporters vowing violence if he loses the election."