This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

An Alabama man charged with criminal mischief in the slashing of a towering “Baby Trump” balloon at a college football game attended by the president last weekend has defended himself, saying it was a matter of “good versus evil”.

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“This is the first time I’m ever seen a liberal get mad about chopping up a baby,” he added.

Al.com reported that Hoyt Deau Hutchinson called the Rick & Bubba Show, syndicated on talk radio, on Monday.

Hutchinson said he was shaking in anger when he drove past the balloon and its handlers during Donald Trump’s visit to see Louisiana State play against the University of Alabama.

He yelled at the protesters, he said, but then realized they might have seen him, so he bought a University of Alabama shirt to blend into the crowd. Pretending he wanted a picture with the balloon, Hutchinson said he used a material cutter with a sharp razor to slice the balloon open.

The orange, diaper-clad caricature is often floated at Trump appearances to protest against and mock the president. More than 20ft tall, on Saturday it was left with an 8ft gash in its backside.

“I get so mad about people not taking a stand,” Hutchinson said. “The left wants to use religion against you, like you shouldn’t act like this and stuff, but I’ll tell you this – the devil knows the Bible as good as we do.”

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Asked if the slashing was an attempt to echo the biblical story of Jesus turning over the temple tables of money changers, he said yes.

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“It comes a point when you gotta take a stand. We don’t have two parties any more. We have good versus evil. When you got one party that says it’s OK to kill babies and by the way, this is the first time I’m ever seen a liberal get mad about chopping up a baby.”

Hutchinson said he yelled “Trump 2020” as he was being arrested. He posted bail and was released.

Hutchinson, 32, told the radio station he keeps up with politics by watching Fox News and his two favorite anchors, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.

“I’m not young but I’m not old. I’m sort of middle-aged. I feel like a lot of people my age don’t keep up with the news and politics the way they should,” he said.