RICHMOND—Dylan Creech is upset. Frustrated. And he's hoping you get the message. To that end, the 28-year-old Richmond resident and EKU grad has been spending his own money on billboards—about $10,000 a piece—to call attention to what he says is the "hypocrisy" of the Trump administration.

Since late last year, Creech has been sponsoring an anti-Trump campaign on billboards across Central Kentucky. The campaign has generated thousands of comments on social media, with what seems like an even split between people who are offended by the messages, and those who find it humorous and worthy of support.

Elections 'aren't necessary'

In an interview with The Edge, Creech said of the president, "He's just the most reprehensible person, in so many ways. He doesn't really care. I think he's a lesion on a larger tumor that is eating away at the sanctity of our democracy. The sad thing is that even with him gone, there are so many issues that will remain."

Creech's latest message, currently running in Georgetown and Richmond, quotes Trump implying free elections aren't necessary. Candidate Trump first made reference to doing away with elections during his most recent presidential campaign when he told a group of Christian voters that if they put him into office, "in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote."

More recently, President Trump told Reuters that he had accomplished so much, “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.”

Military response?

Creech's first billboard referenced a sentiment expressed by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former Navy combat pilot and NASA astronaut who opposes the Trump administration, and war secretary Pete Hegseth in particular. Kelly told military personnel in November last year that it is lawful for them to refuse "illegal orders".

Creech said soon after the message was up, he received a call from Lamar, the billboard company he is using, who told him that "some kind of general" had called to complain about the message, and that they would like him to take it down. A call to Lamar to confirm this was met with a corporate statement that Lamar does not comment on its clients, nor its clients' messaging.

Creech said Lamar also told him he would have to put his company logo on the messages going forward. "That is when I added the name of my LLC, Forwrd Press," he said. The first of Creech's messages did not note who had sponsored it. In Richmond, Creech's messages run on the billboard at the intersection of Hwy 25 and the Eastern Bypass.

Undaunted, Creech soon had up another message, this one reminding folks that President Trump is a convicted felon. "It's true," Creech told The Edge. "He is a convicted felon. That's just a fact."

Trump was convicted in 2024 by the New York Supreme Court, of a dozen acts of fraud, primarily falsifying records of payment to a pornography star. In 2025, Trump lost his appeal of an $83.3 million dollar judgement that he sexually assaulted and defamed advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Point of it all

While regarding the actions of Trump and many of his cabinet secretaries, Creech worries the US is sliding toward authoritarianism, and is distressed by a double standard, he said. Creech cited as an example, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's having sent a highly classified encrypted chat to a reporter, by mistake, last year. "That Signal chat just illustrated the wide divide between the standards. I am held to a higher standard than Hegseth," Creech said.

In the last decade, Creech said he had had a change of heart, going from being more conservative to landing where he is now, angry with the president and frustrated with the lack of accountability he sees this administration as enjoying. "I literally have a list of things I want the government to be accountable for," he said.

"Ten years ago I was less upset by it all. I didn't think Trump was so spiritually ugly," Creech said. "But now that I have kids, I have become compelled to advocate for things that I know are right."

Whether or not he will build upon the notoriety his campaign has received, Creech is still considering. "People—including some Democratic leaders—have been contacting me," Creech said. "I think what they want, even if they haven't said so explicitly, is to use what I am doing, to platform their own name."

For now, he is still focused on his own aims, which he said are to "anger enough people, and to encourage enough people to do something."

Typical comments on social media from those who oppose Creech's campaign point to political intrigue attempting to thwart an otherwise dedicated public servant. Comments in support of Creech's handiwork tend to list other Trump infractions, or suggest those upset by it are deluded.

When asked what he actually wants to accomplish, he said that based on the overall response, "I think I am getting at something that people want to see. I'm not alone in the way I am moralizing right now."