Imported Gold Trump Is for Sale at CPAC

The breakout star at the Conservative Political Action Conference taking place in Orlando is from Mexico. A gold, 200-pound statue of former President Trump has drawn a selfie-taking crowd since it arrived in a hotel lobby Thursday evening, CNN reports. As popular as it is, there's been a backlash even to inanimate Trump. For one thing, there's some awkwardness to a statue suggesting Trump brings manufacturing jobs back to the US—he's holding a magic wand, a reference to a quote from former President Obama—being an import. And there's a religious argument to be made about the sculpture that's showing up online. Tommy Zegan, an American who lives in Mexico, per the Hill, explained his symbolism. "The coat and tie is the fact that he's a professional, he's a businessman," the artist said. "The red tie symbolizes he's a Republican. The red, white, and blue is that he's a patriot. The fact that he's wearing thongs and shorts is that he's at the age where he should be retired. He should be at the beach right now."

Online art and political critics cited the false idol teaching of the Old Testamant, in which Moses destroys a golden calf being worshipped by Israelites in his absence. God's wrath upon the Israelites followed. Some said Republicans are worshipping a false idol through their loyalty to Trump, who falsely claims to have been reelected, per MarketWatch. "If only there were some sacred text, one most people at CPAC claimed allegiance to, that very explicitly warns against making golden idols," one tweet said. "I know the biblical definition of an idol," Zegan answered, per Mediaite. "This is not an idol. This is a sculpture." The likeness displayed at CPAC's hotel is just the fiberglass mold of the statue, Zegan said, and it's for sale for $100,000. He's got the real stainless steel sculpture in a warehouse in Tampa. The statue took him and helpers six months to make and cost his life savings of $50,000. "It is museum-quality, and that's the one I'm eventually hoping to get in the Trump library," Zegan said. (More CPAC stories.)