CHILLING photographs of a fake grave for Donald Trump positioned in New York’s Central Park swept across social media Sunday.
The tombstone appeared to be engraved with the Republican front-runner’s name and underneath an epitaph: “Made America Hate Again,” a wry take on his campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again.”
It was also engraved with a decorative cross and the billionaire businessman’s birth date — 1946, although stopped short of adding his death year.
Several media outlets Sunday reported that the grave was spotted by multiple passers-by, who then posted a photo of it online.
But it is unclear if the grave was even there in the first place.
A park official said they saw the photo of the grave online “ages ago” and after checking it out they confirmed that it had been photoshopped.
They added that they had never seen it in the park and the park ranger who was stationed there hadn’t seen it either.
Whether it is fake or not, the message behind it is an uneasy one — but not all too surprising.
The media mogul’s campaign has been slammed as “divisive” and “fueled with hate” and has been blamed for sparking bloody violence at various rallies around the country, most notably in Chicago several weeks ago.
Although Trump has brushed off the violence as “organized by thugs” and has pushed the blame onto his rivals as well as Barack Obama, whose leadership he claims has “divided America.”
Meanwhile in Mexico, America’s southern neighbors have taken their disdain for The Donald one step further.
Their Easter celebrations late Saturday included burning effigies of Trump, whose anti-immigrant views have sparked outrage south of the American border.
In Mexico City’s poor La Merced neighborhood, hundreds of cheering residents yelled “death” and various insults as they watched the explosion of the grinning papier-maché mock-up of the real estate tycoon, replete with blue blazer, red tie and his trademark tuft of blond hair.
Media reported that Trump effigies burned across Mexico, from Puebla to Mexico’s industrial hub Monterrey.
The burning is part of a widespread Mexican Holy Week tradition where neighborhoods burn effigies to represent Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ according to the Bible. The effigies are often modeled on unpopular political figures.
“Since he started his campaign and began talking about immigrants, Mexico, and Mexicans, I said, ‘I’ve got to get this guy,’’’ said Felipe Linares, the artisan who crafted Trump and whose family has been making Judases for more than 50 years.
(SD-Agencies)
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