Authorities removed the satirical sculpture installed days earlier in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in which the president, Donald Trump, and sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein shake hands smiling.
The work was installed on the National Mall of the U.S. capital last Tuesday by the group ‘The Secret Handshake’, who had already made other similar actions in previous months.
Best Friends Forever
“The statue was removed because it did not comply with the issued permit,” Interior Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Peace told CNN.
The sculpture, made of foam and resin painted to simulate bronze, includes plaques with ironic inscriptions alluding to the friendship between Trump and Epstein.
One of them celebrates “the lasting bond” between the two, which generated immediate controversy on social networks and among visitors.
Both appear holding hands, smiling and with one leg raised. It is titled ‘Best Friends Forever’.
Sculpture labeled as provocative
As Patrick, a member of the organizing group, explained to CNN, the National Park Service, which reports to the Trump Administration had granted them permission until next Sunday.
The White House called the set-up a “political provocation.”
He recalled that Trump “kicked Epstein out of his club years ago for being a ‘weirdo,'” denying any close relationship with the financier.
Epstein and his controversial ties to power
Trump has insisted that he distanced himself from Epstein long before the court cases involving him came to light.
Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sexual exploitation of minors and human trafficking, was arrested in 2019.
He died in federal prison under circumstances that sparked controversy.
His ties to powerful figures, including Trump, Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew, have been the subject of intense public and political scrutiny in the United States.
With information from EFE
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com
