The federal government removed a statue from the National Mall in Washington D.C. that showed President Donald Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands.
The 12-foot statue by anonymous artists was installed on 3rd Street SW, just west of the U.S. Capitol, early Tuesday. The figures painted bronze had messages that quoted the lewd note Trump is accused of writing for a book celebrating Epstein’s 50th birthday.
“In Honor of Friendship Month, we celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein,” one plaque said.
Trump denies having anything to do with the 2003 “birthday book.”
The Department of the Interior told News4: “The statue was removed because it was not compliant with the permit issued.”
It wasn’t immediately clear what the permit allowed or prohibited. A National Park Service spokesman did not immediately respond to an inquiry. The Park Service regularly issues First Amendment-related permits.
The statue was gone by late Wednesday morning. It wasn’t immediately clear where it was taken or what will happen to it next.
White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said in a statement: “Liberals are free to waste their money however they see fit – but it’s not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep. Democrats, the media, and the organization that’s wasting their money on this statue knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them while President Trump was calling for transparency, and is now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents.”
Mock-bronze statues showing a poop emoji on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk – in a reference to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol – and a tiki torch – in a reference to Trump’s remarks after the 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville – have popped up in D.C. in the past year.
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