Earlier this month, the Trump National Doral golf course in Miami got a new resident: a 15-foot bronze sculpture of President Trump, finished with gold leaf. The statue, which rises to 22 feet with its pedestal, cost around $360,000, Ohio-based sculptor Alan Cottrill told the Columbus Dispatch.
If there was any worry that the golden effigy dubbed the “Don Colossus” was just a bit too on the nose, have no fear: Pastor Mark Burns, who was involved in getting the statue erected, said at the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday that it was “not a golden calf,” according to a Daily Beast report Sunday.
“Let me be clear: this is not a golden calf, this statue is a celebration of life,” Burns reportedly said. “It is a symbol of resilience, freedom, patriotism, strength, and the will power to keep fighting for the future of America.”
Later, Burns posted on X that the statue was “not a golden calf” and then, on Sunday, told LBC radio host James Hanson that the statue “represents the miracle of God” and that is “blasphemy” to suggest the statue is similar to the golden calf.
“I don’t know anybody who worships Donald Trump as a God,” Burns said. The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the statue was reportedly commissioned by a group of cryptocurrency investors to promote their new $PATRIOT meme coin, and was only just installed due to a drawn out payment dispute with the artist, who said the investors failed to pay out the $90,000 balance on time.
