HOT TAKES! - A 22-Foot Golden Donald Trump Statue… Seriously?!
Don Lemon
0:00 This is a mustwatch.
0:01 If you haven't seen it, you have to watch this.
0:03 It has to do with um Donald Trump and him being elevated as a god.
0:09 You have an evangelical pastor out here touting a golden statue.
0:14 If you know anything about uh the golden cap in the Bible,
0:17 then this would should set you on edge.
0:19 But also not seeming to understand this evangelical pastor,
0:22 the first commandment of the constitution, which is I am the Lord thy God.
0:26 Thou should have no other god before me.
0:28 He seems to have forgotten that and is making excuses in his head
0:33 about unveiling this um golden statue
0:37 of Donald Trump which they call Don Colossus.
0:40 It should be Don Colossus FU up or Don Colossal FU up.
0:44 Anyway, here's the pastor.
0:46 What is your response to that that this is somehow a false idol?
0:49 You know, because people talk about the golden calf.
0:51 Well, is this the golden Trump?
0:53 Yeah.
0:53 Well, of course it's preposterous.
0:55 It's blasphemy to even think that.
0:57 I mean, if you knew me, and of course,
0:59 I don't know anybody who worships Donald Trump as a god,
1:02 but I do know you could you could worship anything as a god.
1:05 Whether it be your job,
1:07 whether it be your money, whether it be your relationships,
1:09 whether it be your career, uh whatever it is,
1:13 you can put it before the living God.
1:15 And God is a jealous God.
1:17 So, nothing should ever be uh put before the living God.
1:22 Ah well let's bring in someone who can talk about that because he
1:25 reported on it last week uh Aaron and talk about other things as well.
1:29 Thank you for joining us this morning.
1:30 Aaron, what is tell us about this golden statue and remember look I am
1:36 uh I did a book on religion just a couple years ago and there's first
1:40 of all and there not supposed to be any god before them and then you
1:44 know Exodus has this whole passage about golden
1:46 cap but this is the most bizarre thing.
1:49 It is so bizarre, Don, and it's great to be here with you.
1:51 So, it's the statue is called Dawn the Colossus.
1:54 It's 22 feet tall.
1:56 It's made of gold, and it was created by a sculptor in, I believe,
2:00 somewhere in the Midwest.
2:01 And it was made in order to promote a cryptocoin, the Patriot Memecoin.
2:07 A MAGA group started it and was like,
2:09 "Let's create a tall statue of Donald Trump." They then
2:12 installed the statue at his country club in South Florida.
2:16 And what you're watching there is a group
2:18 of evangelical leaders essentially blessing and ordaining this statue.
2:23 Donald Trump called in.
2:24 He thank them.
2:26 I mean, it was just truly one of the oddest moments I think you'll really see.
2:30 Let's Erin, let's listen to a little bit of that of of him calling in.
2:38 I want to make sure everyone can hear.
2:40 Okay, sir.
2:43 Hello everybody.
2:44 I want to thank you so much for being
2:46 there today and more importantly for what you did.
2:49 The uh the statue is beautiful.
2:52 You know, I saw it during the weekend.
2:54 We had a big PGA tournament
2:56 with a a great champion and all great champions actually,
2:59 but it was a great tournament and I got
3:02 to look at it very closely and it's incredible and I
3:05 just want to thank I know it was done
3:07 from love and I want to thank Mark Burns a pastor.
3:11 He's a good Mark Burns is a trumper.
3:14 He goes way back.
3:15 But I mean it it seems like a skit from SNL, Aaron.
3:19 Oh, I thought it was AI when I started hearing his voice.
3:22 I thought it was completely made up.
3:23 I I at some point I was like, this is this can't be real, right?
3:26 And and yet it was.
3:28 I mean, insane.
3:30 Yeah.
3:31 And yet and still I mean and then you have a pastor who is I think he's supposed
3:34 to be an evangelical or a southern I'm not
3:36 exactly sure with Mark Burns but uh Mark Burns
3:39 and I go way back to 2015 2016 when
3:42 he was basically a surrogate uh for Donald Trump
3:45 and would say the most bizarre things and then
3:48 test text me in the middle of the night.
3:49 There's a whole I had a whole another life where
3:52 I had direct contact u with these people a a lot.
3:56 So Erin there are big thank you for um for coming on today.
4:00 Yeah.
4:00 And by the way, congratulations on being a new dad.
4:02 We're very happy for you and I hope that's going well for you.
4:06 Let's talk though about the big stories.
4:07 We've been talking about havar virus.
4:10 Um lawmakers are coming back to Washington this week,
4:12 so it's going to be a big week.
4:13 This hentus thing though is quite frightening.
4:17 Yeah, I mean it is.
4:18 I I think though that it's important to recognize uh
4:21 that to me the what's not really frightening is the virus itself,
4:25 but rather kind of the implications of the virus, right?
4:27 So, I think this is really exposing the fact
4:30 that us pulling out of the World Health Organization,
4:32 us decimating the CDC the way the Trump
4:34 administration has over the past 15 months,
4:37 that to me is what's terrifying because there will
4:39 be a virus at some point that's COVID potential, that has pandemic potential.
4:43 This haunt virus isn't it.
4:45 Every single epidemiologist,
4:46 public health expert says we're not going to have an EP a pandemic from this.
4:50 But there will come a time where there is a virus that could cause a pandemic
4:54 and we won't be ready for it because of what we've seen over the past 15 months.
4:59 And that to me truly is terrifying.
5:01 And I mean, even Don,
5:03 you look at the HHS announcement of the American that tested positive.
5:07 They said, quote, "He tested mildly positive."
5:10 What the hell does mildly positive mean?
5:11 Can you be mildly pregnant?
5:13 Like, what does that mean?
5:15 Like, I'm a little bit pregnant.
5:17 What?
5:17 It's so funny because my mom, we were listening to we had the I had the GPS on.
5:21 I was in the car with my mom and it says make a slight right turn.
5:23 She goes, "What is a slight right turn?
5:25 A right turn is a right turn, but go on."
5:27 Yeah.
5:27 Exactly.
5:27 So, I mean like we have people like RFK Jr.
5:30 running the health department, you have lack of leadership at CDC.
5:34 And when push comes to shove,
5:37 when we will need guidance when there is an actual virus that could
5:40 really harm a lot of people in a quick a short amount of time,
5:43 I mean, we don't have the leadership that's willing
5:45 to kind of and that's equipped to fight back.
5:47 So that's I mean that's a scary part.
5:49 I also think yeah, you mentioned Congress going going back to session.
5:52 To me, what's even more interesting is this Trump she
5:54 summit and it comes just as Iran said screw you Trump,
5:58 we're not going to give you what you want on the deal.
6:00 Now Trump's heading to China.
6:02 Iran kind of froze him.
6:04 he can't really do much until he's back from China
6:06 after the 15th because he doesn't want that pushed.
6:09 So, I mean, yeah, there are a lot of news stories happening this week.
6:11 It's going to be a very,
6:13 very hectic week on Capitol Hill and just around the world.
6:16 Well, Republicans are going to want to get back to, you know,
6:18 the big beautiful bill, which is shocking because they're calling it beautiful,
6:21 meaning taking your Medicare away.
6:23 That is uh that doesn't sound beautiful or Medicaid away.
6:26 That doesn't sound beautiful uh to me.
6:28 And the other thing is that they they want to, you know, get this passed,
6:31 but also with a $1 billion allocation or aotment for this vanity project,
6:38 this ballroom that most Americans,
6:41 the vast majority of Americans will never see and never use or take part of.
6:46 Yeah, for sure.
6:46 I mean, I would actually predict though that that's going
6:48 to get thrown out of this for a number of reasons.
6:50 Number one, I think it's a terrible vote for any moderate Republican to take.
6:54 I don't think Republicans are willing to risk re-election efforts on this vote.
6:59 But number two, as you know, there's something called the bird bath rule,
7:01 the bird rule in the Senate,
7:03 and it essentially any spending provision in these reconciliation packages.
7:07 They have to be uh associated with whatever
7:10 the package is that you're putting forth here.
7:12 Um it's specifically related to ICE funding, CBP funding.
7:15 A ballroom has nothing to do with any of that.
7:17 And so I actually would predict the parliamentarian's going to throw it
7:20 out um in the United States Senate if it ever gets there.
7:23 I think one of the most important stories is um
7:26 the voting rights act and the redistricting that's happening across the country
7:29 that is that changes a political landscape especially for African-Americans
7:33 uh political power that is going to be front and center.
7:36 There are even lawsuits surrounding this.
7:38 Um there's Jonathan Martin uh from Politico is going to be on later
7:44 and he's going to he has an article which I think is very interesting.
7:46 He says Trump's redistricting push could cost Republicans more than it it gains.
7:51 I that's a take that I have not heard,
7:53 but this is a huge huge story that everyone
7:56 should be concerned about and paying attention to.
7:59 Yeah, 100%.
7:59 I actually don't disagree with this column.
8:01 I read it.
8:02 It's interesting.
8:02 I think that Republicans are flying a little close
8:05 too close to the sun here in some states.
8:07 I think they're at risk of a dummy mander.
8:09 And for those who don't know what a dummy mander is,
8:11 it's essentially when you gerrymander a state
8:13 so badly that you have five, for example,
8:16 lean Republican seats rather than three solid
8:19 Republican seats and you lose all five of those seats or you lose more seats
8:22 than you would have had you just not gerrymandered.
8:24 And I think that's what will happen to them in Florida.
8:26 I think they're flying a little close to the sun.
8:28 But I I I do think that people aren't talking enough
8:32 about how they are targeting black majority districts across the country,
8:35 whether Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama.
8:37 I mean, you name it, they're going after it.
8:39 And it it is I mean, racism through and through.
8:42 And um unfortunately,
8:44 it's just kind of fallen by the wayside for a lot of folks.
8:48 I think Yes.
8:48 And I think that they don't understand
8:50 just how much this infuriates uh African-Americans especially,
8:54 but not just African-Americans,
8:56 people who understand the history of this country.
8:59 And how you know and uh um the original sin, one of the original sins,
9:03 one was it, you know, it was um you know,
9:06 doing what they did to Native Americans, right?
9:08 The almost the extinction of native native Americans.
9:10 But the other one is slavery and then
9:12 Jim Crow and reconstruction and then Jim Crow.
9:15 And it just seems like they they're tonedeaf.
9:17 And I actually think that this is going to I
9:20 don't think this is going to work well for them.
9:22 But the Republicans are very good at coming together.
9:26 They fall in line and if they redraw these districts the right way,
9:29 that will just essentially it can decimate
9:32 um Democrats standing and also black voters.
9:36 Oh, 100%.
9:36 And I and I think that what a lot of people aren't
9:38 even talking about is that in just about one month to six weeks,
9:42 the Supreme Court's about to hand down a decision that's
9:44 going to gut mail and ballots or mail and voting.
9:46 It's going to make it much harder to vote,
9:48 especially in rural communities across the country
9:50 that don't have immediate access to a voting booth.
9:54 And that's another attack coming down the pipeline.
9:57 This is just setting the stage for a Congress heading into 2027
10:01 where you actually no longer will have a black Republican member of Congress.
10:05 Literally, every single one is retiring or leaving.
10:08 And they're working to dilute uh black and brown
10:11 representation on the Democratic side any chance they get.
10:14 It's all part of the plan and we're just seeing it happen in real time.
10:18 Yeah.
10:18 Erin Parnes, I I you're a good dude.
10:21 I've watched your your updates and your um you know, your your news reports.
10:26 Uh where can we find you and what's up?
10:29 Do you have any breaking news or scoop that you're working on?
10:31 Um well, the big thing that I'm working on is these data centers.
10:35 Uh especially the one in Utah backed by Kevin Olirri.
10:37 A data center the size of 2,000 Walmarts
10:40 will produce the energy of 23 atom bombs daily.
10:43 uh will decimate the environment and not many people are talking about it.
10:45 So we'll have a big breakdown on that this week on
10:48 Is that going in a minority neighborhood?
10:49 Usually they do put that somewhere.
10:51 I mean Utah's not I mean minority you they're really but yes I feel you.
11:01 You're right about that.
11:02 But yeah, I'll have a big uh kind
11:03 of breakdown on that partner perspective on Substack.
11:06 Go check it out.
11:06 Go subscribe.
11:07 It'll come out this week.
11:08 Thank you.
11:09 and Aaron, go restack and check out the uh Lucky Lemon newsletter on Substack.
11:14 Um, and we appreciate it.
11:15 So, we'll go check yours out.
11:16 Thank you very much, Aaron.
11:18 It's a pleasure seeing you and congratulations, New Dad.
11:20 We'll see Aaron Parnes, everyone.
11:22 All right.
11:22 Thanks for watching, everybody.
11:24 I appreciate you.
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