(GoRealNewsNow.com) – It’s now known to be true. During his reelection campaign in 2018, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) stirred controversy by approving a concert poster for a Pearl Jam fundraiser showing an unsettling scene with former President Donald Trump.
Despite initially distancing himself from the provocative imagery, Tester later admitted in his 2020 book, “Grounded: A Rural Democrat’s Fight to Unite a Divided America,” that he actually appreciated the controversial art.
The poster, created for an August 13 concert, showed Trump lifeless in front of a burning White House, a sight that sparked significant backlash. At the time, Tester’s campaign maintained that they did not endorse the violent imagery.
Pearl Jam, known for their lead vocalist Eddie Vedder, had the poster designed by their bassist Jeff Ament, who is also a longtime friend of Tester.
In his book, Tester recalls the frenzy the poster caused: “As soon as word spread of how wild the posters were, fans stood in line for hours to buy them all up at $35 a pop. Christie showed me a copy, gritting her teeth,” he wrote.
Despite acknowledging the poster was off-message, Tester confessed his fascination with the dramatic depiction saying that there was an unmistakable image of him, flying on his tractor above the fire and fury, waving with his two-fingered left hand
He continued, “‘This is so … interesting,’ I told Christie. “Though the poster was off message, I didn’t want to admit to her that I actually loved it. None of us knew about the posters before we saw them on sale at the concert.”
Moreover, the revelation of Tester’s fondness for the artwork resurfaced following a recent assassination attempt on Trump in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Tester condemned the violence, requesting a congressional investigation into what he described as a “tragedy.”
Amidst this backdrop, Republican critics have targeted Democrats, including Tester, for allegedly inciting violence through their rhetoric.
Additionally, Joe Biden himself has made strong statements about Trump, asserting at rallies that Trump is a “genuine threat” to the nation and emphasizing the critical nature of defeating him in what he called “the most dangerous election in American history.”
The National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized Tester’s past remarks about Trump, recalling a 2019 statement in which Tester advocated confronting Trump aggressively.
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