Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) praised an apocalyptic Pearl Jam concert poster that depicted former President Donald Trump dead in front of the White House , records show.
In 2018, as Tester was seeking a third term, controversy swirled over promotional materials for an Aug. 13 concert fundraiser for the senator's campaign featuring a drawing of Trump lying dead on the ground, with the White House, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial ablaze. At the time, Tester's campaign insisted it neither condoned violence nor approved of the poster, which also depicted a gleeful Tester flying on a tractor above the word "vote" etched in the sky. The poster was co-created by Jeff Ament, a longtime friend of Tester and Pearl Jam's bassist, the Washington Post reported in 2018.
However, despite the Tester campaign condemning the anti-Trump art in 2018, the senator hummed to a different tune in a passage buried in his 2020 book Grounded: A Rural Democrat's Fight to Unite a Divided America, the Washington Examiner found. In the book, Tester revealed that he "actually loved" the Pearl Jam poster. Pearl Jam, a rock band whose lead vocalist is Eddie Vedder, was formed in Seattle in 1990.
"As soon as word spread of how wild the posters were, fans stood in line for hours to buy them all up at $35 a pop. Christie showed me a copy, gritting her teeth," Tester wrote in his book, referring to his then-campaign manager, Christie Roberts.
"And there’s an unmistakable image of me, flying on my tractor above the fire and fury, waving with my two-fingered left hand," the senator continued. "'This is so ... interesting,’ I told Christie. Though the poster was off message, I didn’t want to admit to her that I actually loved it. None of us knew about the posters before we saw them on sale at the concert."
Tester also wrote in his book that "the big news" during the event "wasn’t the music; it was the artwork."
News of Tester's embrace of the artwork comes after the recent assassination attempt on Trump in Butler County, Pennsylvania. The senator said in July he was "appalled by the violence at the political rally" and wrote a letter to other lawmakers requesting an investigation into the event, which he called a "tragedy."
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination, Republicans have cast blame on Democrats for their rhetoric, calling Trump an "existential threat" to democracy, arguing that such claims could fuel extremist activity.
President Joe Biden said in June at a rally in North Carolina that Trump "is a genuine threat to this nation." Days later, at a Wisconsin rally, Biden said , "I mean what I said: We cannot let Trump win. No, I mean, that’s not hyperbole. We can’t. This is the most dangerous election in American history."
Tester's campaign declined a request for comment, pointing the Washington Examiner to his statement in July following the assassination attempt.
"Tester’s violent rhetoric toward President Trump is sick," said Mike Berg, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The spokesman for the NRSC, which works to elect Republicans to the upper chamber, also pointed to comments Tester made in 2019 declaring that the way to beat Trump was to "punch him in the face."
"I don’t think, even in states where Donald Trump won big, that it does you any good running away from Donald Trump," Tester said during an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe in 2019. "I think you need to go back and punch him in the face. I mean, the truth is this guy is bad for this country."
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On Aug. 21, Tester will appear alongside Ament, the Pearl Jam bassist, for a fundraiser in Missoula, Montana. The event is included in a package for “Big Sky Rocker” and “Super Fan" donors giving at least $400 to Tester, the Montana Free Press reported . The 2024 election fundraiser is one day before an Aug. 22 Pearl Jam concert at the University of Montana.
Tester faces a competitive challenge in Montana this year from Tim Sheehy, a businessman and ex-Navy SEAL. The Senate seat is widely viewed as a toss-up. Sheehy led Tester by five percentage points in a recent poll .
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