'Living statue' of Donald Trump is unveiled in New York's Battery Park showing the gold-clad president riding a golf buggy over tombstones of coronavirus and dead soldiers while being followed by Fox News hosts
A 'living statue' of Donald Trump has been unveiled in New York City's Battery Park showing the gold-clad president riding a golf buggy over tombstones of coronavirus and dead soldiers while being followed by Fox News hosts.
The brash installation, dubbed 'The Final Push', was revealed Tuesday morning in Trump's city of birth, taking pride of place along the Hudson River near Pier A.
It was set up by a collective of artists called The Trump Statue Initiative who said they aim to showcase 'our 45th President's most notoriously self-serving, narcissistic and racist moments'.
A 'living statue' of Donald Trump has been unveiled in New York City's Battery Park showing the gold-clad president riding a golf buggy over tombstones of coronavirus and dead soldiers while being followed by Fox News hosts
The brash installation, dubbed 'The Final Push', was revealed Tuesday morning in Trump's city of birth, taking pride of place along the Hudson River near Pier A. Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are seen pushing the cart
The all-gold exhibit - a nod to the the Trump empire's garish design - features an actor posing as the president while perched astride a gold golf buggy and pointing a golf club in front of him like a saber.
It's no secret the president is a big fan of golf, with the Trump Organization running 17 courses worldwide and Trump regularly spotted enjoying a round while the nation is buckling under the weight of a pandemic, a civil rights movement and an economic crisis.
Since he took office on January 20 2017, Trump has reportedly played golf 291 times costing tens of millions of dollars to hard-hit American taxpayers, reported the Golf News Net.
But instead of riding his buggy along a golf course, the president in the installation is plowing the buggy over a row of coronavirus-themed headstones, reading 'In Tragic Memory Of: 'It is What It Is'.
Trump, whose handling of the pandemic has caused him to fall out of favor among many potential voters, famously uttered those words about the staggering number of Americans who have been killed by the virus.
Trump shrugged off the US's death toll, which has now topped more than 190,000, during an interview with Axios last week.
One tombstone reads 'In Tragic Memory Of: 'Loser', referencing claims Trump called US war dead 'losers' and dead Marines 'suckers'
The buggy is plowing over a row of coronavirus headstones, reading 'In Tragic Memory Of: 'It is What It Is' Trump famously uttered the words when he shrugged off the more than 190,000 Americans killed by COVID-19
'They are dying. That's true. And you - it is what it is,' Trump said.
Another tombstone reads 'In Tragic Memory Of: 'Loser' - making reference to claims Trump repeatedly made offensive remarks about the US war dead, calling them 'suckers' and 'losers'.
A bombshell report published by the Atlantic Thursday and credited to four separate military sources revealed Trump's apparent lack of respect for American soldiers.
It said he cancelled a visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in November 2018 because he was worried his hair would be ruined by the rain.
Then in a conversation with senior staff before the planned visit, Trump reportedly asked aides: 'Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.'
During the same trip, the president allegedly called the more than 1,800 Marines who lost their lives in the Battle of Belleau Wood in France 'suckers' for getting killed.
The living statue was set up by a collective of artists called The Trump Statue Initiative who said they aim to showcase 'our 45th President's most notoriously self-serving, narcissistic and racist moments'
The base of the living statue also takes aim at his presidency, with an inscription reading: 'Donald Trump, Destroyer of Civil Rights and Liberties, 2016-2020'
In another more subtle reference to Trump's apparent disrespect for US soldiers and veterans, the statue mirrors the Iwo Jima memorial - the memorial in Arlington County, Virginia, dedicated to all Marines who have lost their lives in service to the US.
Pushing the president's golf cart on the statue are two actors posing as Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, while the action is being filmed by a cameraman.
While Trump often takes aim at the 'lamestream media', he and Fox News have a long-running history of supporting each other, with the president in particular cahoots with right-wing commentators Hannity and Ingraham.
While Trump is maskless - after his repeated refusal to wear a mask to slow the spread of the virus before a sensational backpedaling - the two hosts are wearing face masks.
The base of the living statue also takes aim at his presidency, with an inscription reading: 'Donald Trump, Destroyer of Civil Rights and Liberties, 2016-2020.'
The Trump Statue Initiative set up similar statues in Washington DC and Portland, Oregon, earlier in the summer.
Bryan Buckley, The Trump Statue Initiative's curator, told New York Daily News the team wanted to get 'the American public to slow down' and to encourage passers-bys to vote in the November election.
'The news cycle is so fast right now. Even the 'loser' thing — three, four days later it was pushed out of the headlines,' Buckley said.
'I see this as an opportunity to slow down and get voters to think about this moment and really think about 'am I okay with this moment?' If not, then you should help vote this president out of office.'