WASHINGTON ― A second mysterious and satirical monument has appeared within the nation’s capital, this time a “tribute” to former President Donald Trump for referring to the white supremacists who marched in a 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as “very fine people.”
“The Donald J. Trump Enduring Flame” popped up early Monday just a few blocks from the White Home. Mounted on a fake cement block, it depicts a big bronze hand holding up a flaming tiki torch, a nod to the torches carried by the 1000’s of neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists who terrorized the Virginia city in a “Unite the Right” rally.
A plaque alongside the bottom reads:
This monument pays tribute to President Donald Trump and the “very fine people” he boldly stood to defend once they marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. Whereas many have known as them white supremacists and neo-nazis, President Trump’s voice rang out above the remainder to remind all that they have been “treated absolutely unfairly.” This monument stands as an eternal reminder of that daring proclamation.
It’s the second such monument to magically seem within the metropolis. Final week, a memorial popped up on Capitol Hill to “honor” Trump and the insurrectionists of Jan. 6, 2021, with an enormous bronze poop.
The installations appear like official nationwide monuments, with bronze and cement parts. Up shut, although, they’re really very gentle and look like made of froth or cloth-covered wooden.
Each monuments are jabs at Trump and his ties to extremists, forward of subsequent week’s uncomfortably shut election between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The 2017 rally in Charlottesville descended into hours of violence and chaos, as 1000’s of white supremacists and armed militia teams confronted off with counterprotesters. Three individuals died, and dozens have been handled for accidents. A number of attendees have been later indicted on felony prices for carrying flaming torches with the intent to intimidate.
Then-President Trump, who has fanned white nationalism and far-right extremism for years, responded to the violence by claiming there have been “very fine people” on either side.
Trump has since pushed again on this characterization of occasions, claiming he wasn’t speaking particularly about white supremacists when he talked about “very fine people.” It’s not clear, nevertheless, which attendees of the white supremacist rally he was describing as “very fine.”
A safety guard on the turd monument instructed HuffPost final week {that a} group known as Civic Crafting put it up. This group has secured permits from the Nationwide Park Service to mount its installations.
“I don’t know who put it here or who’s in charge,” a safety guard by the tiki torch monument instructed HuffPost on Monday morning. “It was here when I first got here at like 7, 7:30.”
A passing Treasury Division staffer did a double take as she walked by the tiki torch set up, and got here again to take a look at it once more.
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“I love it,” she mentioned, snapping a photograph earlier than heading off.
