Isadora Lilly- Montana teen becomes "Plaid Shirt Guy" meme after attending Trump Rally

This past Thursday, Donald Trump spoke at a rally in Billings, Montana, covering various subjects ranging from tax reform to the media. Surrounded by a multitude of cameras and rally goers, Trump was the center of attention. Until one high school senior managed to upstage even him.

Caught by the cameras, a 17 year old Montana teen identified as Tyler Linfesty could be seen in the background behind Trump during his speech. His facial expressions ranged from bewildered disbelief to seeming mockery and hostility towards the president. Having had won VIP tickets to the event, Linfesty had been able to get a picture with Mr. Trump before the rally, as well as stand behind him during his speech. Nevertheless, Linfesty was soon removed for not being enthusiastic enough and replaced with a brown-haired smiling woman. He was then escorted by the Secret Service, and asked not to return. Linfesty later expressed that Trump "gets the crowd really riled up, but the important part is to listen to the content of the speech". He has been blamed for purposefully making faces during the rally, although has stated that those were his genuine reactions to what was being said, saying: "Some stuff I agreed with, some stuff I disagreed with. When I disagreed, it was pretty apparent." He was quickly seen by millions and turned into a meme for his outrageous facial expressions, given the nickname of "Plaid Shirt Guy", on account of having been wearing a plaid shirt during the rally.

This leads us to the question of why Trump administration was so quick to remove Linfesty and his friends from the rally just for listening and genuinely reacting to the content of the speech. This shows us just how the government continues to try and use censorship in the media even today, going as far as telling someone how or how not to express themselves. So in the end, even if "Plaid Shirt Guy" was seen a villain in Trump's eyes, millions around the world see him as much more, with one meme's caption reading: "Not all superheroes wear capes. Some wear plaid shirts."