Editor’s note: The image at the bottom of this story contains language that some readers may find offensive.
A billboard in Calvert County, Maryland, where controversial messages have been posted for years, is turning heads again.
The latest message uses vulgar language to describe President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
It reads: “Don’t Blame Trump! You Are Stuck With These Two Sh–heads!!! From All Your Deplorables in Calvert County.”
It also includes cartoon-like drawings of the president and vice president’s heads on top of poop emojis.
The sign faces northbound traffic on Route 4 at Bowie Shop Road in Huntingtown.
A statement posted on the Calvert County Government Facebook page explains that the county “Cannot regulate sign content based on the Supreme Court case decision Reed v. Town of Gilbert (2015). The Calvert County local sign regulations are based on location, materials and size, not verbiage. Regulating any content based on the Supreme Court decision would be illegal.”
County Board of Commissioners President Earl “Buddy” Hance reiterated this at Tuesday’s meeting.
“There is nothing that we as county government can do for language that’s on a legal sign,” Hance said. “This country was built on the foundation of free speech, and sometimes we like what that free speech says and sometimes we don’t.”
Despite this, the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee is condemning the message and demanding it be taken down immediately.
In its own statement posted to Facebook, the committee’s chair, Jeanette Flaim, calls the billboard “deeply disturbing.”
“This does not reflect the values of our County, regardless of party. Our county is home to a myriad of families who must drive by this on their way from school or work. Our county welcomes visitors from far and wide. Parents should not have to explain something so vile to their small children. And it certainly shouldn’t be what our visitors remember us for,” Flaim said.
Another message posted on the same billboard went viral online in 2018. It read: “Hey Liberals Better Get Your Guns If You Try To Impeach President Trump”. The tagline made it clear it was put up by the same group of so-called “deplorables”, a reference to supporters of President Trump.
