Artist behind Nazi-themed Donald Trump billboard gets death threats

The owner of a Phoenix billboard depicting President Donald Trump amid mushroom clouds and dollar signs fashioned after Nazi swastikas told KPNX her sign would stay up so long as Trump remains in office.

"I think a lot of people are feeling this way and I'm just trying to express what I think is on a lot of people's minds these days," billboard designer and California artist Karen Fiorito told KPNX. "I tried to put a little bit of humor in things that are really dark and hard to take."

After completing the billboard Friday, Fiorito posted on Facebook that she was "still awaiting the backlash, death threats and the like" and that she wished she "had time to drive to Phoenix to see the reactions of people on the street!"

According to the Arizona Republic, the sign sits at the intersection of Grand Avenue and Taylor Street in downtown Phoenix and was commissioned by art gallery La Melgosa.

In an interview with KPNX, arts patron Beatrice Moore — the owner of the sign — said "some of these issues are so important you can't not speak out."

The Hill reported Sunday that Fiorito had begun receiving death threats.

"I've been called a communist, a Satan worshiper," Fiorito told the Hill. "I've been told I'm a 'very, very sick person.' I'm not sure what that means. I haven't been answering the phone. My husband has because he's not afraid to talk to anyone, but he told me he received a couple death threats this morning. ... He said, 'They were coming to get us with their boys.'"