The Left has apparently found a new weapon in its fight against the Right: actual clowns.
The Guardian published a glowing profile Wednesday of a growing movement of leftist activists who dress up as clowns to protest everything from Republicans and “fascism” to capitalism, ICE, patriarchy, and New York’s horse-drawn carriage industry.
The profile, headlined “Send in the clowns: the new guard of activists combating the right,” centers on Taylor Horne, a Brooklyn-based drag performer who goes by “Tillie the Clown” and has turned clowning into a full-time political activism career. Horne recently spent two hours applying clown makeup and putting on a costume before waiting another 10 hours to address the New York City Council for three minutes over legislation that would phase out the city’s horse carriage industry.
Horne appeared before the council wearing a black top hat and gloves with a face painted white and red. Horne told the Guardian that when carriage-horse supporters mocked the appearance on social media, they had “fallen right into my trap.” The clown explained that the point was to make opponents focus on the performer rather than the argument. But horse carriages are only one item on the activist clown agenda.
Horne produces social-media content attacking what he describes as white supremacy and xenophobia within Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “fascism” in beauty trends, and queerness as rebellion. Horne’s clown-persona account has nearly 35,000 Instagram followers, also runs workshops on how to “clown and fight fascism,” and has appeared in political videos and educational presentations.
“Clowns are the only ones in the court that have the privilege to speak truth to power, to speak to the king without consequence,” Horne told the Guardian, framing the practice as part of a broader revival of “clown activism,” in which performers use costumes, puppetry, juggling, balloons, stilts, and other theatrical techniques as political protest. Horne traces the practice back to court jesters, arguing that clowns and jesters have historically occupied a special position from which they could mock political and social elites.
Another activist profiled by the Guardian, Kendra Ferguson, began clown activism after working as a mental health professional.
After attending an anti-ICE protest in San Francisco in 2025, Ferguson and a friend began “acting silly” to relieve tension among protesters. They later began appearing regularly outside immigration court in full clown makeup and costumes, carrying juggling clubs, making balloon animals, and naturally handing out left-wing political literature.
Ferguson eventually began using clowning as part of efforts to monitor potential ICE activity around schools.
“Clowning is a space container where we are constantly facing extreme rage, grief or failure through the lens of delight,” Ferguson told the Guardian. The article treats this increasingly elaborate theater as a serious form of political organizing.
Horne began the Tillie character during the COVID-19 lockdown, initially using makeup and self-portraits to experiment with gender. The character eventually developed into an online persona and then a full-time occupation. Horne’s professional background includes acting, drag performance, music, and visual arts.
If the political opposition is supposedly a grave authoritarian threat, is dressing up as a clown really the best way to fight it?
Apparently yes. And now the circus is coming to a City Hall near you.
.png)
.png)
