By Rob Bluey, The Daily Signal | October 12, 2024
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.
Rather 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.
And until recently, Sticker Mule was known for its products—not its politics.
That changed on the day former President Donald Trump survived an assassin’s bullet. Fed up with the hatred toward Trump, Constantino posted on Sticker Mule’s X account an appeal to “help end the hate.” In that post on the night of July 13, he also declared his support for Trump.
“I’ve been seeing the hate directed at President Trump and his supporters for the last eight years. And I don’t like it,” Constantino told The Daily Signal in an interview Friday. “When a bullet hit President Trump, I spoke up, and I’ve been doing everything I can to try to stop the hate.”
Since that fateful night in July, Constantino hasn’t 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—and the controversy that ensued—for a special episode of our podcast.
Illuminated in white and red letters, the “Vote for Trump” sign nearly landed Constantino in jail for allegedly violating zoning rules and distracting drivers.
“As 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,” Constantino explained. “My lawyer said, Anthony, if you show that sign, you’re going to end up in jail. I thought they were joking; they were serious.”
A judge’s last-minute order spared him.
Monday’s celebration proceeded as planned with thousands of onlookers. Constantino’s new political action committee—Sticker PAC—produced a video casting the controversy as a “fight for free speech.”
Even if Constantino’s advocacy for Trump displeases some of Sticker Mule’s customers, the CEO isn’t planning to stay silent when it comes to politics.
“I’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,” he said. “Everyone stuck by my side. We haven’t lost a single employee.”
Constantino 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.
Rob Bluey is president and executive editor of The Daily Signal.
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