KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) - Using Tax Day as a backdrop, hundreds of people protesting President Donald Trump’s visit to a Wisconsin manufacturing company urged him to release his returns, admonishing the president with signs, chants, and even an inflated chicken supposed to bear his resemblance.
Trump had his own crowd of supporters outside Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha Tuesday, where he signed an executive order to tighten the rules for technology companies seeking to bring highly skilled foreign workers to the U.S.
Before his arrival at the tool-making company, protesters gathered at a park and lined nearby streets with signs that criticized several of Trump’s policies. But the president’s refusal to release his taxes was at the center of the protest, with Americans facing the deadline to file their own.
“Release Your Tax Returns! What or Who Are You Hiding,” read one sign. “Grab him by the 1040,” read another, a reference to raunchy comments Trump made about women during a 2005 taping of “Access Hollywood.
Tom Gilding, a retired high school teacher who was among the protesters, said Trump’s decision not to release his taxes shows a lack of transparency in his administration. Gilding helped hold up an inflated chicken that was about 10 feet tall and meant to serve as an effigy of Trump. Gilding, 65, had a sign that read “What are you afraid of, Donald? Release your taxes.”
“If the chicken could say anything, he would say that,” he said.
Trump narrowly carried Wisconsin in November, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since 1984.
His promise of returning manufacturing jobs to the U.S. resonated with voters such as Chris Manoyan, 54, who joined the crowd of about a hundred Trump supporters gathered across the street from Snap-on while Trump was inside. Manoyan took time off from her job as a property manager to show support for Trump, waving a blue “Make America Great Again!” flag.
“I think he’s done a lot in a short period of time. I think he’s doing a good job,” she said.
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