A campaign to irritate President Trump is gathering significant support, after tens of thousands have signed a petition to have the street outside Trump Tower renamed in honor of his predecessor.
The campaign has managed to garner over 86,000 signatories, suggesting that, three years into his presidency, there is still plenty of appetite left for trolling Trump.
The petition itself states that signatories "request the stretch of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets be renamed ‘President Barack H. Obama Avenue.'" The request also emphasizes that "Any addresses on that stretch of Fifth Avenue should be changed accordingly." Given his well-publicized opposition to POTUS 44, such a change would obviously be an issue for Trump.
In the "Background" section of the request, petition author Elizabeth Rowin writes:
"The City of Los Angeles recently honored former President Barack Obama by renaming a stretch of the 134 Freeway near Downtown L.A. in his honor.
"We request the New York City Mayor and City Council do the same by renaming a block of Fifth Avenue after the former president whose many accomplishments include: saving our nation from the Great Recession; serving two completely scandal-free terms in office; and taking out Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind September 11th, which killed over 3,000 New Yorkers."
In an interview with Newsweek, Rowin explained that she had originally intended the petition to be a "joke", adding that she "saw a comedian joke about how it would make Trump so mad if it was named after former President Obama and...thought why not." Should the campaign prove successful, Trump Tower’s address would be changed from 725 Fifth Avenue to 725 Barack H. Obama Avenue.
Rowdy crowd chants "F*ck Trump" during live Fox News broadcastIn addition to the growing number of signatures, the petition itself has been widely praised by those taking part in the campaign. Writing on MoveOn, where the request is hosted, supporters have posted messages such as, “Honoring Barack H. Obama, a scandal-free legitimate and honorable President, is simply the right thing to do. And it would be a grand example of poetic justice," and, “Great name for the street".
Despite the internet’s apparent enthusiasm, there does seem to be at least one major obstacle to the campaign. As Newsweek reports, in order to name a street after a person, the person in question typically has to have been dead for at least two years.
Rowin, however, remains optimistic that this minor detail can be worked around. As she explained to the website, “I am sure the conditions can be changed, there are two streets in LA named after former President Obama. These laws are arbitrary and can be worked around."
We’ll just have to wait and see whether her trolling technique comes up trumps.
