--- title: Plaid Shirt Guy Who Zina Bash Replaced at Trump Rally Is Viral description: The plaid shirt guy trolled President Donald Trump on live tv before Zina Bash could replace him. canonical: https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-07T16:39:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T17:44:35.000Z og:title: Plaid Shirt Guy Trolled Trump on Live TV og:description: The internet caught him right behind the President making some expressive faces og:url: https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f0cc4fe4b67812/698939b3db298724a92609d5/trumprallyplaidshirtguy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4752 og:image:height: 2673 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Plaid Shirt Guy Trolled Trump on Live TV twitter:description: The internet caught him right behind the President making some expressive faces twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f0cc4fe4b67812/698939b3db298724a92609d5/trumprallyplaidshirtguy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:06 video:published: 2018-09-07 section: politics topics: impeachment, Donald Trump, midterm elections, voter turnout, economy, employment numbers, judicial appointments, partisan politics, Maxine Waters, Electoral College genre: political rally speech tones: combative, confident, persuasive, sarcastic emotions: anger (medium), pride (medium), fear (low) sentiment: negative audience: Republican voters, midterm voters, political news followers, supporters of Donald Trump people: Donald Trump, Maxine Waters organizations: Republican Party, Democratic Party content_suitability: politics [00:00-02:06]; profanity [01:03-01:07] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # 'Plaid Shirt Guy' Trolled Trump on Live TV By Making Very Animated Faces > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=02649cec-3f98-4ec2-8048-17372297c0de&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=02649cec-3f98-4ec2-8048-17372297c0de&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=02649cec-3f98-4ec2-8048-17372297c0de&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=02649cec-3f98-4ec2-8048-17372297c0de&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump's Pitch to Supporters in 2018: Vote for Republican or I'll Be Impeached [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump's Pitch to Supporters in 2018: Vote for Republican or I'll Be Impeached](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dAOLn9ud.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2018-09-07. Trump Talks About Impeachment at Montana Rally_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Donald Trump speaks at a Montana rally about impeachment, arguing that Democrats would impeach a president even when that president is doing a good job and has done nothing wrong. He cites the economy and judicial appointments as evidence of success. He warns that an opposing-party president would be impeached before accomplishments could be assessed, and urges supporters to vote to prevent this outcome. ## Key points - Trump says Democrats like to use the word impeach and claims they will impeach him even though he has not done anything wrong. (00:00) - Trump asks how someone can be impeached who is doing a great job and has not done anything wrong, citing the economy as good. (00:10) - Trump says that if a Democrat wins the presidency while Republicans control the House, the House would impeach that Democrat. (00:45) - Trump claims his administration has the best employment numbers and best economy in the nation's history. (01:12) - Trump says his administration is putting on phenomenal judges. (01:24) - Trump argues that impeaching presidents before they have a chance to govern could turn the country into a third world country. (01:29) - Trump tells supporters that if impeachment happens, it will be their fault for not going out to vote. (01:53) - Trump says voting is the only way impeachment could happen, urging supporters to turn out. (01:57) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:45] Democrats' impeachment talk. Trump says Democrats want to impeach him despite his record and repeats that he is doing a great job. - [00:45 to 01:12] Hypothetical impeachment of a Democrat. Trump imagines a Democratic president being impeached by a Republican House and reflects on Washington politics. - [01:12 to 01:53] Economic and judicial record claims. Trump cites employment, economy, and judges as evidence of success and warns of the consequences of impeachment. - [01:53 to 02:06] Call to vote. Trump tells supporters that voting is the only way to prevent impeachment. ## Key quotes - [00:02] Donald Trump: "Maxine Waters, we will impeach him." - [00:12] Donald Trump: "how do you impeach somebody that's doing a great job, that hasn't done anything wrong?" - [00:27] Donald Trump: "Remember that line. He's doing a great job." - [01:12] Donald Trump: "we have got the best employment numbers in our history, we have got the best economy in our history." - [01:53] Donald Trump: "if it does happen, it's your fault cuz you didn't go out to vote." ## Questions this video answers - Can a president be impeached while doing a great job and having done nothing wrong? [00:12] - Would a Republican House impeach a Democratic president? [00:45] - What does Trump say about the economy and employment numbers? [01:12] - What would happen to the country if the opposing party's president were impeached before governing? [01:29] - What does Trump say supporters must do to prevent impeachment? [01:53] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-02:06]: Entire video is a partisan political rally speech about impeachment and elections. - profanity [01:03-01:07]: Contains the word 'hell' used in an informal remark. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:44 PM UTCPublished: Sep 7, 2018 4:39 PM UTC Trump Talks About Impeachment at Montana Rally by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:44 PM UTCPublished: Sep 7, 2018 4:39 PM UTC One of the attendees at Donald Trump’s rally in Montana turned himself into a meme. While all ears were on the President’s remarks about everything from the [anonymous New York _Times_ op-ed](http://time.com/5389879/colbert-anonymous-oped/) to [praise for Brett Kavanaugh’s](http://time.com/53897/trump-montana-rally-kavanaugh-progress/) confirmation hearing, eyes drifted to a man the internet dubbed “plaid shirt guy” who stood positioned right behind Trump’s shoulder. For the first part of his speech, plaid shirt guy made animated facial expressions which ranged from bewilderment to skepticism. He wasn’t there the whole time. The man was removed in the middle of Trump’s speech, and another attendee took his place. But he was there long enough to generate a number of screencaps and GIFs. Despite the fact that it’s impossible to know exactly what he was wordlessly communicating, people drew the conclusion that he did not look impressed. See some of the reactions to plaid shirt guy below. > [](https://twitter.com/choibboy/status/1037947300381908992) > [](https://twitter.com/jamesallen/status/1037886064105545733) > [](https://twitter.com/IamKatieMoe/status/1037961894005432320) > [](https://twitter.com/IamKatieMoe/status/1038007855096332288) > [](https://twitter.com/Squanch%5FMe/status/1037889627225501696) > [](https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/1038050762981613569) > [](https://twitter.com/IamKatieMoe/status/1037961894005432320) > [](https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1038033158615261184) ## Transcript [00:00] They like to use the impeach word. Impeach Trump. [00:02] Maxine Waters, we will impeach him. But he didn't do [00:05] anything wrong. It doesn't matter we will impeach him. [00:10] We will impeach. But I say how do you impeach [00:12] somebody that's doing a great job, that hasn't done [00:14] anything wrong? Our economy is good. How do you do [00:18] it. How do you do it. We will impeach [00:24] him, but he's doing a great job. Doesn't matter. [00:27] Remember that line. He's doing a great job. That [00:29] doesn't matter. We'll impeach him. It is a hell of a [00:33] place in Washington. You know, I was thinking if that [00:36] happened, every time a republican or a democrat. [00:41] Opposite. Got elected President. So let's a say a [00:45] Democrat gets elected someday, hopefully it's a long [00:47] time. Boo. [00:50] But let's say a Democrat gets elected. And let's say we [00:53] have a Republican House. We will impeach that [00:57] Democrat. Right? And then, a Republican We won by a [01:00] lot, we won by a hell of [01:05] a margin, that ` s a lot of, that ` s [01:09] a lot that electoral college we won by a lot. Okay so we [01:12] are in there we have got the best employment [01:15] numbers in our history, we have got the best economy [01:18] in our history. You look at the numbers in every [01:21] category, it's great. We're doing a great job. We're [01:24] putting on phenomenal judges. And you take that, [01:29] and you do then what you're going to have is you'll [01:31] have a country that's going to turn into [01:35] a third world country. Because if the opposite party [01:39] becomes president Every time before it even starts, [01:43] before you've even found out whether he or she is [01:46] going to do a great job, they'll say we want to impeach [01:48] him, and you'll impeach him. It's so ridiculous, but [01:53] worry about that if it ever happens. But if it does [01:57] happen, it's your fault cuz you didn't go out to vote. [01:57] Okay, you didn't go out there, you [02:03] didn't go out to vote that's the only way it could [02:04] happen. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/"},"headline":"'Plaid Shirt Guy' Trolled Trump on Live TV By Making Very Animated Faces","datePublished":"2018-09-07T16:39:51.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T17:44:35.000Z","description":"The plaid shirt guy trolled President Donald Trump on live tv before Zina Bash could replace him.","url":"https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f0cc4fe4b67812/698939b3db298724a92609d5/trumprallyplaidshirtguy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71f0cc4fe4b67812/698939b3db298724a92609d5/trumprallyplaidshirtguy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP","caption":"Plaid shirt guy trolls Trump on live TV","creditText":"NICHOLAS KAMM—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/","name":"'Plaid Shirt Guy' Trolled Trump on Live TV By Making Very Animated Faces"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump's Pitch to Supporters in 2018: Vote for Republican or I'll Be Impeached","description":"Trump Talks About Impeachment at Montana Rally","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dAOLn9ud/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-09-07T13:06:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dAOLn9ud.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/","duration":"PT2M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5390134/plaid-shirt-guy/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```