Madeline Sherratt and Kelly Rissman
Fri, November 1, 2024
A 43-foot tall nude effigy to Donald Trump has popped up once again just days before Election Day – this time along a busy highway in swing state Pennsylvania.
The giant statue of the former president appeared on Thursday along Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia where it caught the attention of locals, police – and Philadelphia’s Republican party leader.
The city’s GOP chair Vince Fenerty caught wind of the monstrosity through police scanners and immediately filed an obscenity report to police, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
While the space had been rented for 24 hours, due to its graphic nature, police requested the structure be taken down, the outlet reported.
The 6,000 pound statue, dubbed “Crooked and Obscene,” has been touring the US in recent weeks as Trump battles it out against Kamala Harris in the upcoming election.
In September, it was erected in a fenced-in lot next to Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas.
It then appeared in Detroit and Phoenix before it was last seen in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 27, reported The Cap Times.
The artist behind the foam and rebar effigy has remained anonymous and has turned down interviews, reported the Detroit Free Press.
However, they said the intention behind the statue was to serve “as a bold statement on transparency, vulnerability, and the public personas of political figures,” Arizona Central reported.
The effigy seen in Las Vegas (AFP via Getty Images)
So far, it’s attracted mixed reviews.
“I think it’s hilarious,” a former Democrat named Miguel told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Evan Pollack, an iron worker, agreed: “It’s hilarious that someone put that amount of work into something so insane.”
Another suggested the artist wrap a Puerto Rican flag around the lower half of the giant sculpture – a reference to the recent offensive joke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
This isn’t the first time Americans have been graced with nude statues of the Republican presidential nominee. In 2016, five unclothed Trump statues popped up in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Seattle.
That project was called “The Emperor Has No Balls” and was created by Indecline, a group that describes itself as an “activist art collective.”
This election, a wave of bronze satirical statues poking fun at the former president have also sprung up, including a bronze tiki torch and poop statue in Washington DC.
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