Mexicans Burn Donald Trump Doll in Effigy as Part of Easter Celebration
Mexicans celebrated holy week this year by burning a papier-mache version of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in effigy.
All week long, town people in Mexico City gathered to roast the 10-foot tall, eyes wide, mouth agape creation of the man many Latinos have come to know and loathe as a modern day Judas.
"For Latinos here and in the U.S., he's a danger, a real threat," said Leonardo Linares, the 52-year artist of the Trump statute. a 52-year-old artist who built a Trump effigy over the past week in his Mexico City studio. "He's a good man to burn as a Judas."
Trump Pledges to Deport Immigrants
Trump has raised the ire of Mexicans across the world with his recent vow to instantly deport all 11 million immigrants now living in the U.S. if he is elected president. In addition, he has pledged to build a massive wall along the Mexican border to keep out immigrants.
Since announcing his candidacy last summer, he has also derided Mexicans as "rapists" and "criminals."
Besides earning himself the distinction of becoming the punchline in a stream of running jokes across much of Mexico, Trump has also drew heated criticism from several former and present high-ranking Mexican government officials, who warn his xenophobic rhetoric is damaging relations between the two countries.
"Latinos have contributed a lot to the United States," Linares said. "Trump's a buffoon. With him as president, the U.S. will lose a lot of credibility in the world."
Trump may do Worse Than Romney With Latinos
That already seems the case among immigrants already residing here in the U.S. A recent Gallup Poll found Trump is expected to attract even less of the Hispanic vote than 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney do four years ago, when he managed just 27 percent support.
The poll also found that a staggering 77 percent of Latino voters have an unfavorable view of Trump, compared to just 12 percent who seem in a positive light.
Before torching the Trump doll and blowing into apart amid chants of "death, death," Linares and company also lit a doll of President Obama with a cigar in his mouth and holding a Cuban flag.
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