A digital sign on the side of a busy Southern California roadway was reprogrammed over the weekend to display a message supporting presidential hopeful Donald Trump, state transportation department officials said.
One motorist, Nikki Worden of Norco, was heading northbound on the 15 Freeway in Corona on Christmas night when she noticed the light-up sign seemed to be offering Election Day advice in lieu of the usual traffic updates and driving conditions.
“Inland Empire supports Donald Trump. Merry Xmas. Vote Donald Trump,” the sign read. Inland Empire refers to a region in Southern California including parts of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.
The woman told a local Fox News affiliate that she was shocked by what she saw at first, but then decided to to pull off at the next exit and record a video clip of the sign, which she uploaded to her Facebook page. The video has since been viewed more than 419,000 times.
A spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation told the local ABC News affiliate that the sign was hacked by vandals and had been corrected by Sunday.
Mr. Trump remains the favored candidate among likely Republican voters ahead of next year’s presidential election. The latest Rasmussen poll released Monday suggests 36 percent of likely voters would cast a ballot for the billionaire real estate mogul if the presidential election was held today, while 37 percent said they supported Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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