Like a modern-day Nero, Trump is obsessed with statues.
His latest abomination is to clutter Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, with a jumble drawer of figurines that represent “heroes” in American history.
The plaza is a big, treeless space near the White House that is used primarily by skateboarders during the week and demonstrators on the weekend. It was home to the anti-capitalist OccupyDC protest in 2011 and pro-Trump rallies in 2020. The park also hosts 5K races, street parties, festivals and more.
Freedom Plaza offers a wonderful view down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. Or did, because now Trump’s statue party obstructs the view.
One of the “heroes” blocking the view is Caesar Rodney, a Delaware slaveholder who raced to Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. His statue was removed from Wilmington in 2020.
Trump loves his slavemasters. Rodney isn’t the first old white racist he’s placed on a plinth in DC. Last year, he returned Albert Pike to a position of honor in Judiciary Square after he had been dethroned in 2020. Pike was an incompetent Confederate General considered a traitor by both sides during the Civil War – a role model for Trump.
The Park Police assigned a 24/7 guard for the statue after it was reinstalled, which demonstrates how important racist symbols are to Dear Leader.
He also took action against another statue, the Trump-Epstein Friendship Statue. In the middle of the night, the Park Police destroyed this permitted artwork that satires the relationship between Trump and Epstein.
For all those who say that art doesn’t matter, look how much time the regime spends on creating and destroying statues. They know the power of art.
These statues will be around long after we’re gone. They communicate to future generations what we valued. Statues are like time-capsules, demonstrating what we thought was important enough to preserve.
From tariffs to the Iran War, Trump has fucked everything up, but he can clutter DC with tacky statues in a futile attempt to beat the judgement of history.
The good news is that statues can be removed. New ones installed. We can wipe clean the stain on the nation’s capital.
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