Donald Trump and his supporters are up in arms again. This time it is over a nude painting of Trump that is about to go on sale in the U.K. It is titled “Make America Great Again” and depicts Donald with a small penis.
The artist who painted it, Illma Gore, has faced countless death threats and even threats of rape from Trump supporters. She has also faced several anonymous threats of legal action, including from a person claiming to be from the Trump campaign.
Though she is an American artist from LA, she has been forced to take the painting overseas after it was subject to censorship here in the U.S. She was unable to find any U.S. art gallery willing to display the painting out of fear of violence and legal action from Trump and his supporters.
Gore originally published the image on her Facebook page in February, even before Rubio’s comments. But it was quickly censored by Facebook. E-Bay and other social media sites have followed suit after an anonymous threat to file a lawsuit under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This threat has essentially gotten the painting banned in the U.S.
Of course, it’s not too difficult to figure out who is behind the lawsuit. This is just another case of Trump attacking freedom of expression. But filing a lawsuit calling it a copyright violation? It seems that would be an admission that the painting was a little too realistic. Is it violating Trump’s patented copyright of his own reflection in the mirror?
It is impossible to imagine such an absurd lawsuit could ever hold up in court. It is also hard to understand how Facebook and every major American art gallery, all of which claim to support artistic freedom and freedom of expression, would go along with this. Apparently Donald Trump is not the only one with tiny man parts.
But America’s loss could be Britain’s gain. Despite the ongoing threat of legal action, Gore and the London art gallery displaying the painting remain undeterred and plan to go ahead with the sale. They could make a lot of money off it too. The painting is valued at £1 million, which is over $1.4 million. Early bids have started at over £100,000.
Gore has refused to let the harassment intimidate her. She says she is currently working on another offensive painting of Donald Trump, but has refused to provide any details. She says she wants it to be a surprise.
Feature Image is a clipped image of the painting provided by Illma Gore and shown on the CBC
