BROADCASTS.com

Anthony Constantino grew up in Amsterdam, New York, at a time when the city was bustling with activity. In the years that followed, however, many of the manufacturing jobs disappeared, leaving its factories empty and its residents without work.\nRather than flee upstate New York, Constantino instead co-founded Sticker Mule in 2010. The company makes products ranging from magnets and stickers (hence the name) to buttons and T-shirts. Today, it employs about 1,000 people in the Amsterdam area.\nAnd until recently, Sticker Mule was known for its products\u2014not its politics.\nThat changed on the day former President Donald Trump survived an assassin\u2019s bullet. Fed up with the hatred toward Trump, Constantino posted on Sticker Mule\u2019s X account an appeal to \u201chelp end the hate.\u201d In that post on the night of July 13, he also declared his support for Trump.\n"I've been seeing the hate directed at President Trump and his supporters for the last eight years. And I don't like it,\u201d Constantino told The Daily Signal in an interview Friday. \u201cWhen a bullet hit President Trump, I spoke up, and I've been doing everything I can to try to stop the hate.\u201d\nSince that fateful night in July, Constantino hasn\u2019t slowed down. This week, he unveiled a massive 100-foot-wide sign atop his Amsterdam factory along the Mohawk River. He spoke with The Daily Signal about the sign\u2014and the controversy that ensued\u2014for a special episode of our podcast.\nIlluminated in white and red letters, the \u201cVote for Trump\u201d sign nearly landed Constantino in jail for allegedly violating zoning rules and distracting drivers.\n\u201cAs soon as the local Democrat mayor heard about the excitement and the enthusiasm for the sign, he got a restraining order issued against me, blocking me from displaying the sign under threat of jail time,\u201d Constantino explained. \u201cMy lawyer said, Anthony, if you show that sign, you're going to end up in jail. I thought they were joking; they were serious.\u201d\nA judge\u2019s last-minute order spared him.\nMonday\u2019s celebration proceeded as planned with thousands of onlookers. Constantino\u2019s new political action committee\u2014Sticker PAC\u2014produced a video casting the controversy as a \u201cfight for free speech.\u201d\nEven if Constantino\u2019s advocacy for Trump displeases some of Sticker Mule\u2019s customers, the CEO isn\u2019t planning to stay silent when it comes to politics.\n\u201cI'm very proud of my organization for the way they've handled all this and they've endured all this. They stayed focused on doing exciting things for our customers, exciting things for the business,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone stuck by my side. We haven't lost a single employee."\nConstantino told The Daily Signal that he remains motivated to stop the political division in America and bring the country together. He believes Trump is the leader who can do it.