BALTIMORE — Ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to Baltimore, protesters have inflated a 14-foot "Trump Rat".
"We want people to recognize that Trump is a rat," said Claude Taylor with the Mad Dog PAC.
His political action committee organizes against the President, and as a Marylander, when he found out that Trump would be in Baltimore, he said he had to come out.
"I think it was just outrageous that the President would have the audacity to show his face in Baltimore after what he said. As a Maryland resident, I took real offense to that," said Taylor.
Not everyone was happy with the display. A nearby construction worker came over and said it was crazy they were putting teh rat up because Trump has boosted the economy and created a lot of jobs.
President Trump's visit comes less than two months after he repeatedly slammed Charm City on Twitter, calling the city and rat and rodent infested mess and saying no one would want to live here. A few days after his comments, Trump said he didn't regret what he said and African Americans were calling the White House to thank him.
Trump will be in Baltimore Thursday evening to speak at the 2019 House Republican Conference member retreat dinner at the Marriott Waterfront.
In preparation for his visit, many city roads will shut down at 4 p.m. and the city's Department of Transportation is telling people to avoid the area south of Baltimore Street and between Martin Luther King Blvd and N. Central Ave.
All non-essential Baltimore City employees who work downtown were able to take liberal leave 2 p.m. to avoid traffic. The restaurants surrounding the Marriott Waterfront are staying open. Managers said they have lots of reservations and are just telling folks to account for extra travel time.
Others who work in Harbor East had to adapt too.
"Fortunately we can work from home so we have a lot of people who have stayed out of the office today and are working from home or are leaving early to get out of the craziness," said Mike Bender.
