'Quite a ride': Cyclist who flipped off Donald Trump in viral photo gets last laugh

Julie Briskman lost her job for flipping off then-President Donald Trump's motorcade in 2017.

This story was one of NZ Herald Lifestyle's top stories for 2021

The woman who lost her job for flipping off then-President Donald Trump's motorcade in a 2017 photo has had the last laugh.

Juli Briskman, whose image went viral after she was photographed raising her middle finger at Trump from her bicycle, was fired from her job with a government contractor as a result of the gesture.

Briskman said her company's HR department told her initially the picture would not be a problem. But on the Tuesday after it went viral, she was given the boot. Her employer said she had violated its social media policy.

"They walked me to my desk and then out the building. I was even told I could not get photos of my children from my computer before they bleached it," Briskman said at the time.

Donald Trump at the White House on December 12, 2020. Photo / AP

"It was like I had embezzled a couple of million company dollars."

Briskman told reporters she was "really frustrated" at the president on the day the photo was taken.

"It was just sort of like, here I am on my bike. I've got nothing," she told the Guardian.

"This is pretty much the only thing I had to express my opinion. He wasn't going to hear me through bulletproof glass … So that was pretty much how I could say what I wanted to say."

Briskman's ordeal, which included a lawsuit against her former employer, ultimately sparked her ambitions to enter politics and opened "a lot of doors".

Juli Briskman was the cyclist who gave the Trump motorcade the finger. Donald Trump was so angry he demanded that she be fired, and she was.
She was so angry she decided to run for office and defeated the local Republican candidate.
She has been sworn in, now. pic.twitter.com/O328sAersa

— Jaime Primak (@JaimePrimak) February 6, 2021

Extraordinarily, Briskman has since been sworn in as supervisor for the Algonkian District of Loudoun County, Virginia.

And in a blow to the former president, the 53-year-old now also sits on the Local Board of Supervisors that oversees legislation for leisure facilities in her county - including Trump's National Golf Club.

Despite her folkloric status as the "Trump flipper", Briskman refused to bring attention to the incident throughout her campaign, unless directly questioned by locals in the wealthy US county.

How good is this? 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/QqfVuUM0fk

— Bethany Williams (@BethanyinCBR) February 4, 2021

"The last two years have been quite a ride. Now we're helping to flip Loudoun blue," Briskman told the Washington Post in 2019.

Briskman has since spent her time in office in Virginia working to remove a confederate statue, introduce bike lanes and officially apologise for historic school segregation.

The 53-year-old announced this week her new gun ordinance bill will go up for approval soon.