For a moment Thursday, it appeared that “flower boy” Rod Webber might be barred from Donald Trump’s New Hampshire town hall next week. But the liberal gadfly is cleared for entry — just as long as he’s not “disruptive.”
The colorful, flower-wielding peace activist who regularly turns up at 2016 events in the Granite State said he received a call Thursday from Trump New Hampshire staffer Josh Whitehouse telling him he was barred from a town hall scheduled for next Wednesday. The call followed a week after Webber was in a scuffle with Trump supporters at a New Hampshire town hall.
Webber had attempted to give Trump a bouquet of flowers at the last week. Trump’s security detail took them and laid them down on the corner of the stage, where they sat for the rest of the speech.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said later Thursday that Webber was welcome at the event.
“All are welcome at our events,” she told CNN. “But you have to be a positive participant. No disruptions, please.”
Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Webber told CNN he was angry at being “bullied” by the Trump campaign. But after he was alerted by CNN that he was in fact being allowed in, he laughed.
“That’s an interesting turn of events,” he said. “The big bad media comes in and then it’s OK — they’ll let me in and just ignore me.”
Webber gained notoriety this year trailing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and presenting him with flowers. Bush took to calling him “flower boy” and invited him up on stage to pray with him earlier this month. Webber has trailed additional 2016ers, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.