MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. (WPXI) – There’s backlash at a Halloween parade in Pennsylvania over a politically-themed float that depicted former President Donald trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris in chains.
Some people are calling it downright hateful.
Now, the mayor says the borough is looking into how that float was allowed in the parade.
Video from an attendee shows the float that appeared during the Mount Pleasant Halloween parade.
People can be seen dressed as Secret Service surrounding a golf cart-style vehicle.
Riding in the cart was a person wearing a Trump mask.
On the top of the vehicle is a fake sniper.
“The worst part of it was that there was either a rope or a chain attached to the back of the vehicle, and there was a woman who was to resemble Kamala Harris in handcuffs and chained to the back of the vehicle as though they were dragging her,” Mount Pleasant Mayor Diane Bailey described.
Josh Huff attended the parade.
“This is not a good look,” Huff said. “This is simulating a lynching down Main Street in Mount Pleasant.”
Huff attended the parade with his wife and said he was immediately stunned seeing the float.
“It was dark. This has been escalated way beyond what it should be,” Huff said. “Somebody in power had to say, ‘Hey, yeah, that’s fine. That’s OK.”
Bailey was asked how the float was approved to get in the parade line.
“That is a legitimate question, and I cannot answer that totally,” Bailey responded.
The mayor says she is meeting with the borough manager and council president, and also might get the solicitor involved.
“After it’s already done, I’m not sure that there’s much we can do except for going forward,” Bailey suggested.
Bill Bretz, the Westmoreland County Republican committee chair responded with a statement, saying in part, “We certainly don’t condone the simulation of political imprisonment or violence in any context, no matter the party affiliation of those involved.”
“This needs to stop,” the mayor added. “In this country, this needs to stop.”
The parade was sponsored by the local volunteer fire department.
Copyright 2024 WPXI CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.