GARDEN CITY -- A cardboard cutout prominently displayed by the Ada County Republicans during the Western Idaho Fair generated controversy over the weekend.
The cutout, which depicted President Donald Trump holding his former opponent Hillary Clinton in a headlock or chokehold, was set up at the Ada County GOP booth, where fair-goers could register to vote and meet some local Republican candidates.
Photos of the display began circulating on social media, with many people calling the depiction offensive.
Diana Lachiondo, a Democratic candidate running for an Ada County Commissioner seat, posted a condemnation of the cutout on her Facebook page.
"This is juvenile and pretty un-classy, not to mention that it seems to promote violence against women," she posted. "Like many people, I’m sick and tired of the vitriol being hurled out there. And yes- I would also call out the Democratic Party if I saw something of this nature at the Dem booth."
Lachiondo's post has been shared more than 700 times and has garnered hundreds of comments. The majority of those who commented - including several Republican candidates - said they found the display distasteful.
Amid the uproar, the Ada County Republicans deleted a photo of the cutout that had been posted to their official Facebook page, and took down the booth display. Ada County Republican Chairman Ryan Davidson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
But Mary Strow, the spokeswoman for the Idaho GOP, denied that the cutout promoted violence.
"I think the claims that it supports violence against women are over the top," she said.
She added that the Idaho GOP was not involved in Ada County chapter's decision to display the cutout, and noted that it was taken down after organizers received complaints.
Strow also said she believed that those outraged by the cutout were adhering to a "double standard," arguing that offensive remarks by Democratic county-level groups had escaped the same level of scrutiny. Specifically, she pointed to a gif posted by the Bonneville County Democrats on Twitter, seemingly in praise of another Twitter user who criticized a black female speaker at the Idaho GOP convention as "tokenism."
However, Strow said she would not personally have been offended if Democrats had put up a display of Clinton holding the president by the neck.
"It's just politics," she said.
