Florida tavern removes sign poking fun at Trump days after failed assassination: 'Struck a nerve'
LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. - The manager of a Florida tavern has taken down a sign that appeared to poke fun at the attempted assassination of former President Trump after some found it insensitive.
Lo De Stout, the general manager of Harry's Banana Farm in Lake Worth Beach, said the sign that said "How do you miss a head that's that inflated?" was an attempt at humor.
READ: What we know about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the alleged shooter at Trump's rally
"You know, that sign is meant to be humorous, and I thought it was just another humorous sign, but, apparently, it struck a nerve," De Stout told WPTV. He said he tried to create signs with 10 words or fewer with humor in mind about hot topics.
"I go [with] whatever is the hot topic, and as soon as that happened to Trump, I knew that's all that everybody was going to be talking about for the next two weeks," he said.
Fox News Digital tried reaching out to the bar.
Courtesy: Google Maps
The sign referencing Trump's failed assassination was put up less than 24 hours after it happened. In response, the bar received multiple threats of violence and arson, De Stout said.
He said he was told to close, along with countless negative Yelp reviews, which he said shut down his business profile.
"After a while, I thought ... I can't have my staff being threatened for the things that I do. It's not fair to them," De Stout said. "Some of them are young girls. They have young kids, and it's a great staff here. And I didn't want to put them in harm's way."
A new sign says, "Yeah, for Trump, so happy for him, you crazy bastards happy."
De Stout said last month he had a sign poking fun at President Biden.
READ: Biden delivers Oval Office address on Trump assassination attempt: 'We must not go down this road'
Rocco Talarico, a Trump supporter, told the TV news station he saw the sign before it was taken down.
"Every time I pass here I get knots in my stomach. It's disgusting what they put out all the time," Talarico said. "Every time that something happens, they put the sign out. I'm totally against it."
Harry's Banana Farm customer, Christopher Westcott, said the sign didn't bother him.
"I think some people take things too personally. Freedom of speech is freedom of speech," Westcott said. "I don't agree with the politics of everyone here, but so what? I'm not here to talk about politics."
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