Anti-Trump Bust Campaign Showcases The President's Lies: Artist

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Forget signs in the yard or bumper stickers when it comes to making political statements. A former Republican district judge turned Democrat is expressing his support for presidential candidate Joe Biden, and his deep frustrations with President Donald Trump, through his irreverent art creation, “Anti-Trump Bust Campaign”

Mike Elwell, a St. Pete resident, said he has traveled around the nation with his creations of Trump sculptures that serve as reminders to others of times the president has not represented the U.S. with dignity as one in his position is expected to do.

The art pieces are sculpted heads of Trump with examples Elwell selected that he said show the president's bullying, greed, lies and narcissism printed on the block supporting the sculpture.
“Trump Imitated A Disabled Reporter: Someone he outranked in privilege, power and capacity to fight back. A Bully!!!” is displayed on a block that has an orange Trump pumpkin head with short arms placed in a mocking manner.

Another piece has Trump dressed in prison clothes with “Tax Evasion” across his chest and the base reads, “Abuse of Power, Sexual Battery, Obstruction, Campaign, Finance Charges.” All the pieces sit on top of silver tin trash cans.

“This is a passive form of campaigning without being in your face or blocking traffic or anything else,” Elwell told Patch.

He sets up his pieces in places with plenty of foot traffic, such as Beach Drive at Second Avenue North where Elwell was set up on Sunday. He also chooses locations that feel safe to set up his art, and he appreciates the openness St. Pete shows.

Along stops on his nationwide tour this year, Charleston, South Carolina, was the only place where Elwell was warned not to put his display out because things could potentially get dangerous for him. He heeded the warning.

“You just walk by, you get to look at what's being offered, the statements as to why I think you vote for Biden,” Elwell said. “In a sense, it's a historical perspective of what Trump has done over the past 3 ½ to four years. So each one of these comments, which are on all four sides (of the block) is an accurate statement. When some of the Trump people come by, I say, 'Take a look, look at the messaging and if you see one thing that you don't think is truthful, we'll talk about.' And so far nobody's taken me up on it.”

A Patch reporter observed reactions from people who walked by the display. A lot of people smiled and took out their phones to take photos and thanked Elwell for doing this. One woman said she never leaves her downtown condominium on a Sunday but got out just to see his campaign, and told him what a good job he did. A man wearing a Marines tank top and red shorts walked by with a disapproving look on his face, but didn't speak.

"Four more years, four more years," two people presumed to be a couple chanted as they walked by.

Elwell respected their differences as the couple continued to walk across Second Avenue Northeast.

"They are expressing what they want peacefully," he said. "I may not agree with it but it's peaceful, and they have their own point of view."

Elwell said the positive reactions have outweighed the negative reactions of people's responses.

"Unfortunately we still have a system that benefits people with money," Elwell said. "And they get a lot more bang for their buck out of this country than people who don't have that kind of money. Ya look at it from housing, from health care, bank financing, and ya go over here to the Black community, and you can hardly get a loan on a house. A lot of credit by young Blacks is destroyed early because of not paying a cell phone bill. But maybe if somebody had been around to say, 'Protect your credit, be eligible to get a loan or buy a car,' there are simple things that need to be accomplished."

Elwell worked as a district judge in Kansas before moving to St. Petersburg about 10 years ago. He said he switched to the Democratic Party after seeing so many of Trump's lies.

Elwell may or may not be back out on Beach Drive this weekend with Election Day nearing. If he's not and you want to check out his work, visit Anti-Trump Bust Campaign.