In a viral TikTok video, a Michigan woman shared that she lives in a “super liberal city” and is largely happy with how progressive her neighborhood is overall. However, one of their neighbors is a big Trump supporter and stands out among the rest. When she found out they put a Little Free Library in their yard, she had a plan — one that was both hilarious and intelligent.
Posted by TikTok user CVD2471 (CVD), her recent video shows just how dedicated her neighbor’s support for President Trump is, showing off a Trump flag flying along side an American flag. Seeing as she lives in a liberal city, she said she wanted to make sure the content inside her neighbor’s library is “more aligned with our community’s values.”
CVD and her 7-year-old decided to donate some items to the Little Free Library for the whole neighborhood to enjoy, mainly progressive and pro-LGBTQIA+ material. She shows several of the books, which include resources to access abortion care, pro-LGBTQIA+ stickers, and Trevor Project resources.
They also donated a bunch of progressive books. Some of these books include Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, which is a historical narrative on slavery, and Handbook for a Post-Roe America, which touches on abortion topics. She said her and her daughter restocked the library and they “think it looks great now.”
CVD says she couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed. According to her, a Trump flag had been flying outside her neighbor’s home for years. Although it was taken down for a while, she says it made a return just as Ferndale’s Pride festival got underway. She described the timing as “pretty icky” and decided to answer with a statement of her own. In her view, if her neighbor was free to share his political beliefs, she was free to share hers as well.
CVD’s TikTok video attracts support online
Not everyone focused on CVD’s response. Some commenters found themselves fixated on the Little Free Library itself, questioning why a neighbor known for displaying a Trump flag would choose to run one in the first place. The apparent contradiction quickly became a topic of discussion in its own right. “CLAP BACK THROUGH EDUCATION 👏👏👏 let’s gooooooo” a viewer wrote, which garnered nearly 8,000 Likes.
“He put a free library in??? I’m so confused,” one commenter asked. This created a chain-reaction of responses, with one arguing Trump supporters like to “pretend they are good people.” Another suggested a more sinister explanation, saying “Most of the ones in this area get hijacked by alt right/Christian groups…” and removing anything progressive with content that “leaned conservative.”
Several viewers were worried this would amount to nothing. “He’s probably just gonna throw it all away tho :(,” one supporter wrote. To combat this, some suggested CVD build her own Little Free Library.
Hopefully, with nearly 70,000 Likes on TikTok, CVD’s stunt will attract more positive attention to the free library. It already has, given that some commenters live in the neighborhood too and thanked CVD for her activism.
