A golden statue of former President Trump was unveiled late Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla., quickly prompting ridicule from social media users, many of whom compared it to the Old Testament account of the Golden Calf.
Video showed the statue being rolled out through hallways at the annual right-wing conference. The structure includes a golden figure of Trump wearing a suit jacket and red tie, paired with American-flag shorts and flip flops.
Several people stopped to pose with the statue, with one woman saying, “Awesome,” and another person commenting, “That is so cool.” Another person can then be heard in the video starting to chant, “four more years.”
Despite the praise from attendees, social media users argued that the statue showed some conservatives’ unhealthy obsession with Trump, with one Twitter user jokingly writing, “I asked CPAC if they were afraid of offending God with a golden Trump statue and they said ‘Trump is God.’”
Others, including University of Virginia Center for Politics founder and Director Larry Sabato, connected the statue to the book of Exodus.
In the Old Testament story, the Golden Calf was worshipped by the Israelites in the absence of Moses as he went up to Mount Sinai. In the Bible, God punished those who worshipped the golden structure instead of him, destroying the calf and killing about 3,000 people.
Al Cardenas, former chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), tagged the organization in a Twitter post sharing the video Friday morning, writing, “Its come down to this. Worshiping the Golden Impeached.”
Trump is expected to speak at CPAC on Sunday, marking his first public appearance since leaving office and after being acquitted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial.
He is expected to go on the offensive against President Biden in his address, as well as hint at — but not announce — a 2024 presidential bid.
The conference will also serve as an opportunity for other GOP 2024 hopefuls to appeal to members of the party. The list of other speakers who are also considered by many to be potential White House candidates include Govs. Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Ron DeSantis of Florida; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Rick Scott (Fla.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.).