In an ironic twist of fate, a Bernie Sanders supporter is now sporting a Donald Trump tattoo on his lower back. Zach Cobert, of Rock Island, Illinois, lost a bet on the outcome of the election, and, to fulfill his end of the bargain, acquired a tattoo of Donald Trump's face on his back on Tuesday, a tattoo which he refers to as his "Trump Stamp."
The location of Cobert's tattoo on his lower back, as well as the picture of Trump that was used as inspiration for the tattoo, were reportedly both picked by Cobert's Facebook followers. Additionally, Cobert live streamed the entire tattooing process on Facebook, albeit somewhat reluctantly. During the live stream, Cobert reflected on the status of his predicament, stating, "I'm thinking about my life, how it went wrong, now I'm getting a Trump stamp. ... The stupidest thing I've done for [social media] views."
Cobert's tattoo predicament has received a significant amount of media attention. Cobert's Facebook feed is full of links to news articles discussing his tattoo and commitment to fulfilling his betting promise. Cobert's story has also been featured on a variety of local television news stations and was even on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday evening.
While Cobert is likely one of the few people getting a tattoo as a result of a lost election bet, he is certainly (and interestingly) not the only person to acquire an election-inspired tattoo. According to Yahoo!, a variety of people have reported acquiring Trump tattoos following the election, though, interestingly, some of the tattoos express (very permanent) disdain for the President-elect, while others express support. Yahoo! kindly collated a gallery of Trump tattoos from Instagram which you can check out via this link; the tattoos range from standard face portraits to outlandish caricatures.
Trump is not the only one who is getting attention via Americans' tattoo choices. While Hillary Clinton tattoos appear to be less common, there are certainly some supporters out there who have taken the initiative and obtained tattoos of the Democratic presidential candidate. For example, Justin Smith, a lifetime Hillary Clinton supporter and volunteer, paid $400 to have a large portrait of Clinton tattooed on the back of his calf prior to the election, saying, "[Clinton]'s my biggest role model in life. My biggest inspiration since I was a kid. ... What better way to show my support than something permanent."
Overall, candidate tattoos seemingly epitomize the nature of this election season — unexpected and full of surprises. Certainly, for Sanders supporter Zach Cobert this election, and his Trump tattoo, were not at all what he was expecting.
