A covert message targeting Donald Trump managed to sneak its way into the president’s Great American State Fair flop.
Photographer Al Drago captured the subtle “86 47” message scrawled onto a replica of the Cadillac Ranch sculpture inside the Texas state tent at the sparsely attended event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
In the hospitality industry, the number “86” means to remove an item or eject a customer. The use of “47” alongside it appears to be a coded reference to removing Trump as the 47th U.S. president.
It is unclear who left the message or how long it was visible. The few people who have bothered to attend Trump’s Great American State Fair as part of the America250 celebrations are encouraged to graffiti the Cadillac Ranch sculpture.
The “86 47” phrase has also taken on a deeper political meaning, with Trump’s Department of Justice suggesting that simply displaying it amounts to making a serious threat against the president’s life.
In April, federal prosecutors charged former FBI Director James Comey with two counts of “knowingly and willfully making a threat to kill” Trump after he uploaded a photo on Instagram of seashells arranged on a beach to read “86 47.”
A former Department of Justice official told CNN that the indictment against the longtime Trump nemesis “might be the worst case DOJ has filed in my lifetime.”
Weeks before the Great American State Fair opened, the grass on the National Mall was vandalized so that a huge “86 47” was burned into the lawn through patches of browned grass.
The appearance of the message at the Great American State Fair is not the only thing that has embarrassed Trump.
Its first day was hindered by a power outage that vendors’ ice cream to melt, while the Ferris wheel also briefly shut down because of power issues.
Almost all of the musical acts originally announced as performers between June 25 and July 10—including the Commodores, Poison frontman Bret Michaels, and headliner Martina McBride—later pulled out, saying they had been misled into believing it was a nonpartisan event rather than one organized by Trump loyalists.
Vanilla Ice, one of the announced acts who never pulled out, had to cancel his performance at the last minute after severe weather shut down the entire fair.
Since the Great American State Fair opened, images and videos have frequently shown just how few people have attended the event despite its location at a popular tourist destination.
In an early-morning Truth Social meltdown, Trump desperately tried to portray the event as a success.
“Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it?” Trump posted at 6:27 a.m.
“Ask yourself this simple question, ‘DO YOU THINK THAT OBUMA OR SLEEPY JOE BIDEN COULD HAVE DONE IT?’ THE ANSWER IS NO!”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and Freedom250 for comment.
