Bagley wrote, in a post on Facebook, "In a few hours I will fly out of Salt Lake City to begin a new chapter in Portugal. One doesn’t just suddenly wake up and say 'I think I’ll uproot my life and move to a foreign nation.' This has been years in the planning."
Although he said he would be making cartoons still, he will be doing them from a room "5,000 miles away."
"I love the US and hope to visit, but, gotta say, I’ll be watching the news carefully to see how tenable getting back in is. I may have said a few disrespectful things about Dear Leader. I’m a hobbit by nature. The last thing I wanted was uprooting a comfortable life and learning a new language in my 60s. I first considered leaving on election night 2016. When Jan 6 didn’t absolutely destroy the GOP and Trump brands, I knew it was prudent to make plans. I’ve read a lot of history about Europe in the 30s w focus on the Spanish Civil War."
Bagley, who has compared the Trump administration to the CCP during the Tiananmen Square Massacre, among other comparisons, then went on to suggest that ICE would come after him as well as other US citizens.
"MAGA is full-on fascist; the real malignant deal in all its facets. If you think ICE is only going to go after criminal immigrants, I’ve got some disturbing news for you," he concluded in the post.
Bagley, who also recently got his own day named after him by Salt Lake Mayor Erin Mendenhall, has made a number of anti-Trump cartoons over the course of his career, and has also compared black Utah Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) to the KKK for his concerns over illegal immigration.
Other cartoons he has done include pushing the Russia collusion hoax as well as others.
