The moment was captured by a photographer, whose picture of Briskman – her back to the camera, finger raised – found its way to Twitter and set off a social media storm. Days later, after she told her bosses that she was the woman behind the finger, her employer, Akima, a government contracting firm, fired her.

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By then, Briskman was already active in local politics. But she said that the incident gave her new inspiration to work at the polls in 2017, volunteer on Democrat Jennifer Wexton's campaign when she ran for Congress, and run for a $US66,000-a-year seat.

A single mother of two, Briskman, who began her campaign for supervisor eight months ago, said she was intent on basing her campaign on issues and not the incident involving her finger.

"I've lived in the district for over 20 years," Briskman said. "We were a little concerned about that being the platform. Voters want to know you understand their issues."

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But she acknowledged that her notoriety helped her raise $US150,000 for the race.

If a voter expressed opposition to the President, Briskman said she would mention, "I'm the woman who flipped off the motorcade and lost my job. And they would say, 'Oh yeah, that woman!'"

As it turns out, Briskman's district includes a certain golf course owned by a certain president.

"Isn't that sweet justice?" she asked, her cackle suggesting that she knew the answer to her own question.