A young man standing over Donald Trump’s right shoulder completely upstaged the president and became a viral sensation on Friday. So who is #PlaidShirtGuy?
Plaid Shirt Guy is 17-year-old Billings, Montana high school senior Tyler Linfesty. As reported by CBS Billings affiliate KTVQ, Linfesty attended a Billings Trump rally and made waves by making hilarious expressions as the president characteristically droned on about nonsense. Linfesty can clearly be seen rolling his eyes, mouthing "Really?", "Not true!" and more.
Ultimately, a young woman replaced Linfesty because producers of the event weren’t happy with his performance. He was told by the Secret Service to get out of the venue and not come back.
Before this all went down, Linfesty got his picture taken with Trump (he hasn’t gotten the print yet). He intended to have Trump sign a book— a copy of The Communist Manifesto wrapped in a jacket of Trump’s Art of the Deal.
Note: Linfesty has stressed to reporters that he’s not a communist or a socialist. He’s also not a Republican.
Linfesty insists his facial expressions weren’t forced and that he wasn’t showboating; he was just reacting to the content of the speech. He told KTVQ:
"When I heard the policies, I disagreed with most of them," Linfesty said. "I knew what faces I was making, but those faces were completely genuine. I was not trying to make those faces, those were just faces that came out when I heard what he was saying. Some stuff I agreed with, some stuff I disagreed with. When I disagreed, it was pretty apparent."
Watch Linfesty dish about his whirlwind rise to internet fame to a delighted, laugh-suppressing Don Lemon on CNN below.
Somebody get this kid a cameo on Saturday Night Live, quick!
h/t: KTVQ, CNN
It’s so refreshing to see
It’s so refreshing to see someone so interested in politics.
He’s a wonderful wonderful
He's a wonderful wonderful person and a wonderful eloquent speaker and I bet he has a high IQ too and will make great scientific advances because EVERYONE from Montana is great.
I love young guys in plaid
I love young guys in plaid shirts.