Anti-Trump chicken makes scenic Bay trip as ex-president’s supporters rally in San Francisco (2024)

Nearly plucked by high winds, the “Trump Chicken” finally made an appearance in the waters off San Francisco on Thursday afternoon — even as supporters of the former president, who attended a private fundraiser by the Bay, roasted his opponents at a counter-protest that drew hundreds.

As Donald Trump arrived in the Bay Area on Thursday for the fundraising event with local tech billionaires, the 33-foot-tall “Trump Chicken” balloon — done up with a golden comb-over and thick eyebrows — sported a black-and-white striped inmate’s jumpsuit on a trip through the waters of the San Francisco Bay near San Francisco’s Marina Green. The poultry “prisoner” was meant to draw attention to the former president’s recent criminal conviction.

The inflatable fledgling briefly paraded around Pier 39 before making a run for the Golden Gate Bridge, skirting past Crissy Fields and the Palace of Fine Arts before circling back near the Trump supporters at Marina Green and heading into the nearby harbor.

Danelle Morton, who calls herself the “head chicken tender,” had said earlier Thursday that her attempts to inflate the chicken were largely scuttled by stronger-than-expected winds across the bay. The chicken was unable to stay inflated in winds over 20 mph.

With gusts topping 25 mph, Morton said she had “a hard time getting the chicken up on his feet.”

In the hours leading up to a fundraiser that was expected to net millions of dollars, hundreds of Trump supporters gathered near Marina Green, chanting “four more years” as a show of support. People waived flags proclaiming, “California for Trump,” “Take America back,” and “make votes count again.

One man draped himself in an American flag, while numerous others wore American flag-themed pants and shirts.

Dressed in an Uncle Sam outfit, former San Pablo Mayor Rich Kinney lauded Trump’s bravery and “courage” for coming to San Francisco and the reliably-blue Bay Area.

“It’s a hopeful sign that there’s some semblance of freedom,” said Kinney, adding that “him coming really encourages all of the patriots.”

Attendees of Trump’s fundraiser paid as much as $300,000 for dinner for a single person or $500,000 for a couple. It was hosted by tech billionaire David Sacks, his wife Jacqueline Sacks and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

“We are amazed that they’re holding a multimillion dollar fundraiser for [Trump] after he’s been convicted of 34 felonies,” Morton, the Trump-chicken wrangler, said in an earlier interview. “Should a criminal really run the country? Somebody needs to stand up and say no.”

Many motorists, including a San Francisco Fire Department truck, honked while passing the crowd. Some played Trump-themed songs, including one proclaiming “Trump won and we know it,” while another hurled invective at the gathering.

San Francisco police Lt. Andy Meehan estimated the crowd at 250 to 300 people.

One man, wearing an oversized cutout of Trump’s face atop his own and giving his name only as “Gary,” said he showed up because of “the state of our freaking country.”

Trump’s visit comes a week after a jury of 12 New Yorkers convicted the former president of 34 felony counts related to hush-money payments during to his bid for the White House in 2016. At the rally, supporters of Trump decried the verdict as a degradation of the nation’s legal system.

“I cried,” said Mark Zulim, 64, of Oakland. “It’s lawfare — lawfare is being used against Trump.”

“I see it as the elimination of a candidate” that millions of Americans support, Zulim added. “They’re using lawfare to take my rights away as an American citizen.”

Across Marina Boulevard, a couple counter protesters held signs declaring “Trump is a disgrace,” while labeling him “another fascist thug.”

One of those few anti-Trump protesters, Cynthia Frybarger, gazed at the crowd of people waving flags in support of the former president and shook her head.

“Maybe they’ll do some fact-checking on who they’re supporting,” said Frybarger, 73, of San Jose. “He’s an embarrassment.”

A supporter of President Joe Biden, she lauded the current president.

“He’s honest, he’s empathetic to his country,” Frybarger said. “Trump, personally, he’s in it for himself.”

Wearing a shirt saying “Trump 2024,” Mary Lynn Pelican of Fremont cheered the turnout in support of the former president.

“The response is impressive — people from all over the Bay Area are here,” said Pelican, 82, adding that the lack of counter-protestors was indicative of the nation’s lack of enthusiasm for the current president. “It’s pathetic — it doesn’t show much support for Joe Biden, does it?”