Saturday, September 5th was the type of idyllic day that screams for a trip to the lake. For a group of Donald Trump supporters who had emblazoned their boats with MAGA flags as far as they eye can see, their jubilation this Labor Day weekend would quickly be dampened by swells in Lake Travis.
To be clear, this is only funny because no one was hurt. With that said, it’s pretty hilarious. This band of Trump supporting boaters literally overtook Lake Travis, just outside of Austin, on Saturday and gleefully lived up to the hypocritical example set by President Trump.
Several times throughout the afternoon, boaters in the parade were admonished to reduce their speed and operate their boats with more safety, according to one Lake Travis resident who monitored the carnage on the Citizen app, which is essentially a police scanner with a fancy user experience.
Time and again, this “we back the blue,” convention on water refused the entreaties by concerned Travis County Sheriff’s deputies and emergency responders. The results were as predictable as they are poetic.
On Sunday, the Travis County Sheriff’s office released details of the mayhem left in their merry wake: 5 boats were overtaken by waves created by (wait for it) not weather (wait for it) not the Antifa SEALs (wait for it) or a strong gust from the lungs of Willie Nelson. No, those boats were overtaken by waves created by other, larger boats in their own parade.
Of the 5 that took on water, two were successfully towed to safety and three remain submerged, deep in the heart of Lake Travis, where several area insurance brokers expect to find entire days of their time, wasted by a bunch of overgrown children.
The great washout at the Battle of Lake Travis was just the latest in a series of Trump boat parades gone wrong. A similar parade in Oregon was recently met with the same fate.
Signal is hard at work investigating the total dollar amount of damaged sustained in the calamity, and will report back when we have details on how many taxpayer dollars were lost in the Battle of Lake Travis.
Photo credit: Austin American Statesman, @photobob on Twitter.
Joe brings over a decade of experience as a political operative and creative strategist to Texas Signal, where he serves as our Senior Advisor and does everything from writing a regular column, Musings, to mentoring our staff and freelancers. Joe was campaign manager for Lina Hidalgo's historic 2018 victory for Harris County Judge and is a passionate sneakerhead.
