A Trump supporter who spent $2,600 for a billboard that read “Trump Country” on a building in downtown Nashua, New Hampshire, discovered that the company that he paid to help him design it removed it from the building after complaints were made, just in time for the presidential election.
Dave Streit, who told The New Hampshire Union-Leader, “I think that Trump was the most unlikely conservative imaginable, and he has delivered on every single promise, and we will never have a president like him again,” paid Outfront Media to place the message on the top of 169 Main Street in downtown Nashua from Oct. 6 to Nov. 3.
“The company notified him Monday that the message would be removed in the next couple of business days because of complaints. By Tuesday morning, the sign had been taken down,” the Union-Leader reported. Streit said, “Free speech just got thrown out the window.”
Streit said he had moved from Connecticut to New Hampshire so he could express his conservative views more easily, but then the incident with the billboard occurred. “We are political refugees,” he said. “We watched what liberals did to Connecticut, so we moved here to New Hampshire where you live free or die, and no sooner than we get here we are getting canceled. It is disgusting.”
MaryAnne Carpenter, an account executive with Outfront Media, emailed Streit on Monday, “Unfortunately, we had complaints from our property owners regarding political ads. This is both Republican and Democrat. We’ve been asked to remove certain copy on certain boards throughout the state — one of which is your location on Main Street in Nashua.”
Carpenter apologized and said Streit would receive reimbursement for the amount of time left on the contract.
On Tuesday, Streit said, “They will not leave that sign up. I don’t hold it against any of them, but what perturbs me is that one or two complaints can make it come down — from just the mere mention of the president.”
He pointed out that the timing of the removal was important, noting that the five days before the presidential election are paramount for political advertising.
“Even if someone on the left wanted to put a sign up, I would defend their right to have the sign up — that is freedom of expression,” Streit opined, then paraphrased Benjamin Franklin, saying, “Hang together or hang alone.”
Street acknowledged that his contract with Outfront Media gave them the right to remove a billboard if a complaint were made, but it also did not have a clause that political ads were barred. Streit also stated that he believed if his ad had championed Joe Biden, it would not have been removed.
“The prominent three-story building on Main Street on which the billboard stands is owned by Joan Scontsas Revocable Trust. Scontsas Fine Jewelry and Home Decor operates inside the first floor of the building. Philip Scontsas, one of the owners, did not return a phone call on Tuesday,” the Union-Leader reported.