Throughout former President Donald Trump's campaign, the "Trump Train" made regular appearances at the former President's infamous rallies. The "train" isn't a train at all, but a charter bus festooned with pro-Trump images and notable international leaders whose images are doctored to feature them sporting pro-Trump paraphernalia.
Though not an official part of the former President's reelection efforts, the Trump Train continues to be a fixture at conservative events, driven by its owner, Buddy Hall.
Most recently, the Trump Train made an appearance in The Villages—a massive Florida retirement community—for a rally headlined by infamous Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida.
A picture of the bus soon went viral.
Greetings from The Villages, Florida.pic.twitter.com/4pBTUrHZdP— Donie O'Sullivan (@Donie O'Sullivan) 1620422082
The ridiculous images generated widespread mockery across the internet, but one notable family across the pond wasn't laughing.
Ellie Hall of Buzzfeed News reported that Buckingham Palace reached out to Buddy Hall (no relation) in an effort to get the image of its matriarch—Queen Elizabeth II—from its exterior. The photo of the Queen is doctored to feature her with a "Q" button—alluding to the QAnon conspiracy theory—and a "Make America Great Again" hat.
Buckingham Palace assured Buzzfeed that
"representations asking for [the photo's] removal have been made."
The absurdity of the entire development made waves on social media.
I was wondering about this when I saw pix of that fug ugly bus \u2026..https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/buckingham-palace-queen-image-trump-train\u00a0\u2026— MARION R BRADFORD \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@MARION R BRADFORD \ud83c\udf0a\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1620873312
The Queen is NOT amused. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/buckingham-palace-queen-image-trump-train\u00a0\u2026— Diana Demarest (@Diana Demarest) 1620857788
Stop the Bus!\nGod Save the Queen!\nWhat an embarrassment.\n\nhttps://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/buckingham-palace-queen-image-trump-train\u00a0\u2026\n#DemVoice1 #FreshVoicesRise \n#wtpEDU #ONEV1 Z22— \ud835\udd17\ud835\udd25\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd08\ud835\udd2a\ud835\udd2d\ud835\udd29\ud835\udd2c\ud835\udd36\ud835\udd36\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd2b\ud835\udd31\ud835\udd1e \ud835\udcd0\ud835\udcf4\ud835\udcea\ud835\udce3\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcf7\ud835\udcea (@\ud835\udd17\ud835\udd25\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd08\ud835\udd2a\ud835\udd2d\ud835\udd29\ud835\udd2c\ud835\udd36\ud835\udd36\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd2b\ud835\udd31\ud835\udd1e \ud835\udcd0\ud835\udcf4\ud835\udcea\ud835\udce3\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcf7\ud835\udcea) 1620853211
Bwahahaha!!!https://twitter.com/ellievhall/status/1392570965901647872\u00a0\u2026— MarciaMarciaMarcia \ud83d\ude37 (@MarciaMarciaMarcia \ud83d\ude37) 1620897929
I don\u2019t blame her. Who would want to be associated with that cockroach.https://twitter.com/ellievhall/status/1392570965901647872\u00a0\u2026— @BluebonnetsTX \ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc3e (@@BluebonnetsTX \ud83d\udc36\ud83d\udc3e) 1620861997
Her majesty wasn't the only one bemused at the bus.
I have no words for this.https://twitter.com/donie/status/1390777133799251971\u00a0\u2026— Cristiona Kiely (@Cristiona Kiely) 1620460729
What in actual hell are these scary imageshttps://twitter.com/donie/status/1390777133799251971\u00a0\u2026— Jennifer S (@Jennifer S) 1620441354
This is disturbing on so many levelshttps://twitter.com/donie/status/1390777133799251971\u00a0\u2026— Jared Walsh to the All Star Game #ForeverAngelNeil (@Jared Walsh to the All Star Game #ForeverAngelNeil) 1620494872
It's unclear if the Queen's demand will be heeded by the driver.
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AMC