Woman who famously flipped off Trump's motorcade wins election in Virginia


Juli Briskman's middle finger launched her political career.
While riding her bike in October 2017, Briskman found herself alongside President Trump's motorcade as it left his golf club in Sterling, Virginia. Briskman raised her hand and flipped the cars off, not knowing that a photographer was behind her, capturing the moment. After the image went viral online, she told her employer, a government contractor, that she was the woman in the photo. Briskman was fired.
Briskman, a Democrat, told The Washington Post that this pushed her into becoming more active in politics, and she volunteered for a congressional candidate and worked at a polling station. She decided earlier this year to run for a seat on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, promising to promote more government transparency. The unofficial results of Tuesday's election are in, and Briskman has 52 percent of the vote. She defeated the incumbent, Republican Suzanne Volpe.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"It's feeling fantastic, it's feeling surreal," Briskman told the Post. "The last two years have been quite a ride. Now we're helping to flip Loudoun blue." Her district includes the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, which she finds amusing. "Isn't that sweet justice?" Briskman said.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Political cartoons for October 21
Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include a high-profile theft, Epstein files keeping Donald Trump up at night, Halloween costumes and scary GOP stories
-
Five things we learnt from Virginia Giuffre’s memoir
The Explainer Nobody’s Girl recounts ‘harrowing’ details of Giuffre’s suffering as a teenage victim of Jeffrey Epstein and his circle
-
Prince Andrew: a timeline of disgraced royal’s Epstein scandal
In Depth How the Queen’s favourite child went from Falklands War hero to public pariah
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ rallies
Speed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified files
Speed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DC
Speed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operations
Speed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
-
Pentagon reporters turn in badges after refusing rules
Speed Read They refused to sign a restrictive new press policy imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
-
Supreme Court points to gutting Voting Rights Act
speed read States would no longer be required to consider race when drawing congressional maps
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in Venezuela
Speed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
‘Vile, racist’ leaked chats roil Young Republicans
Speed Read Leaders of Young Republican groups made racist, antisemitic and violent comments in private chats