One week before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a statue has popped up in downtown D.C. that takes a swing at former President Donald Trump and his comments made after the 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The roughly 8-foot-tall statue shows a bronze hand clasping a bronze lit tiki torch. It appears weathered, to suggest it’s been at the southeastern corner of D.C.’s Freedom Plaza for years.
The plaque on a plaster base made to look like a pillar titles it, “The Donald J. Trump Enduring Flame” and refers to comments Trump made in the aftermath of riots and protests that happened in August 2017.
The plaque reads:
This monument pays tribute to President Donald Trump and the “very fine people” he boldly stood to defend when they marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. While many have called them white supremacists and neo-nazis, President Trump’s voice rang out above the rest to remind all that they were “treated absolutely unfairly.” This monument stands as an everlasting reminder of that bold proclamation.
The “Unite the Right” rally was initially planned to protest the city’s removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, from what was then known as Lee Park.
It turned deadly when 32-year-old Heather Heyer, was run down by James Alex Fields, Jr. who purposely drove his car into a group of counterprotesters.
In July 2023, white supremacist leaders and organizations that participated in the rally were ordered to pay a total of more than $26 million in damages to people with physical or emotional injuries from the event.
A similar statue done by the same artist popped up last week on the National Mall with a replica of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk, featuring a bronze swirled poop on top. It was dedicated to Jan. 6 rioters.
Permits for both statues show they were filed by the same group. The statues must be watched by someone affiliated with the group at all times, according to the permit.
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