A political prankster passed out small Russian flags emblazoned with President Trump’s name at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference — where Trump supporters blindly waved the banners during his Friday morning speech until they were confiscated, according to online reports.
Photos show people in the crowd holding the flags, which have “TRUMP” printed in gold capital letters on the middle blue stripe — and stern-faced men in suits holding handfuls of them as they scan the audience.
“Crowd at CPAC waving these little pro-Trump flags that look exactly like the Russian flag. Staffers quickly come around to confiscate them,” Snapchat’s Peter Hamby tweeted.
Photos also show a young man wearing a red shirt and a visor as he distributed the flags before Trump’s speech.
The culprit was identified as liberal activist Ryan Clayton, who told BuzzFeed News that he spoke with a fake Russian accent as he told CPAC attendees: “Trump and Putin great leaders, yes?”
An accomplice in the stunt, Jason Charter, said he and Clayton gave away about 1,000 flags.
“Most people saw Trump’s name on the flags and didn’t give a second thought to the fact that they were Russian,” Charter told BuzzFeed.
Both men are members of “Americans Take Action,” a self-styled “network of populists” whose Web site calls for Trump’s impeachment.