The Conservative Political Action Conference, happening this weekend in Orlando, Florida can feel like an alternate reality – a place where Senator Ted Cruz can joke about about his much maligned trip to Cancun, where Representative Paul Gosar can denounce racism a day after speaking to a group of white nationalists, and where a 200 pound statue of Donald Trump wearing flips flops and American flag shorts can roam the halls (watch above).
Idol worship isn’t conservative. #RestoreOurGOP https://t.co/ornxg6D8GU
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 26, 2021
The fiberglass statue, dubbed “Trump and the Magic Wand” by sculptor Tommy Zegan, was crafted in Mexico, a place that has drawn the racist ire of the former president since the day he announced his candidacy in 2015. You might say this means the statue is dripping in irony; in point of fact, it’s painted in gold chrome.
Zegan told Politico that he’d sell the sculpture for $100,000. He’s also built a “higher-end” stainless steel version that cost him his “life-savings.”
Last year, Zegan tried to crash then-President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago birthday party with the statue, but he was rebuffed by security. He hopes to sell the stainless steel version to the future Trump Presidential Library.
First of all, that Bronz statue of Trump at #cpac — it was Made in Mexico + it gets even weirder.. the artist has been in touch with Trump’s long time assistant Rhona Graff about getting a stainless steel version in the Trump Library https://t.co/BnwgGfsaXb pic.twitter.com/REw5ZYud6r
— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) February 27, 2021
On Friday, CPAC attendees lined up to take pictures with the work of art. On Sunday, the flesh-and-blood Donald Trump is set to address the conference.