On Sept. 23, a statue mysteriously appeared at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. The statue depicts President Donald Trump and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein holding hands and skipping. The statue also included three plaques, two of which contain excerpts from the birthday letter Trump allegedly wrote Epstein for his 50th birthday, saying things such as “enigmas never age” and “may every day be another wonderful secret”. Part of the statue also has a plaque dedicating it to friendship month and the “long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend’ Jeffrey Epstein”.
Despite having permits granting the statue space until September 28th, the statue was removed the next day, being called a “a violation of its permit” by the National Park Police.
The Secret Handshake, the anonymous group responsible for the statue, claims the National Park Police “showed up in the middle of the night without notice and physically toppled the statue, broke it, and took it away”. The statue was left visibly damaged.
This is not the first time anonymous groups have used Washington D.C. as their stage. Look, for example, at the artwork titled “Dictator Approved”, with a golden thumbs up crushing the Statue of Liberty’s crown, and another called “Gold TV”, in which Trump is seen dancing with different figures, including Epstein.
Concerning the quick removal of the statue without a 24-hour notice, The Secret Handshake called it a “literal example of the Trump administration toppling free speech when it has been legally permitted and approved” and noted that the “timing of this less than 24 hours after Jimmy Kimmel is interesting”.
The group was able to secure a permit for the statue’s return, and replaced it a week later. It will remain up for a limited time.
When questioned about their thoughts on the statue, the White House had a rather strong reaction. A spokesperson claimed that Trump did, in fact, know Epstein, but only because he kicked him out of his club for “being a creep”. They also stated that President Trump, concerning Epstein and his victims, was “calling for transparency and is now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents”.
Trump also began lashing out on Truth Social, saying “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bull****,’ hook, line, and sinker”.
