State senator mad about nude Trump statue due to ... Hurricane Helene?

Titled "Crooked and Obscene," the statue appeared in Phoenix on Thursday but is apparently on to its next destination. Buster Heine

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Late Friday afternoon, Republican state Sen. Janae Shamp sent out a press release.

At issue was a huge statue resembling a naked Donald Trump that appeared in an empty lot east of downtown Phoenix on Thursday. Though the statue had been removed when Phoenix New Times stopped by Friday morning, Shamp was still miffed about it heading into the weekend.

"How anyone could possibly believe this political stunt is anything more than sick and deplorable is beyond me," the Surprise lawmaker wrote.

Opinions on art are in the eye of the beholder, of course, and it's not unfair to deem the statue a political stunt. Titled "Crooked and Obscene," the statue weighs 6,000 pounds and is made of foam and rebar. It has already appeared in Las Vegas and could now be on to a third destination.

click to enlarge

State Sen. Janae Shamp sent out a press release objecting to the naked Donald Trump statue that appeared in Phoenix on Thursday.

Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror

Then Shamp's release took a hairpin turn:

Many Americans have recently lost their lives or livelihoods in large areas of our country as a result of hurricane Helene. Our federal government has run out of aid money to assist them after spending nearly $1billion in FEMA funding to aid illegal immigration and the Biden-Harris open border crisis. Hardworking families are struggling to put food on the table because of inflation. American citizens are dying every single day from consuming deadly fentanyl that's trafficked into our country. Need I say more?

What, you might ask, does a huge foam statue of a naked Trump have to do with the fentanyl crisis? Or with Hurricane Helene, a natural disaster happening thousands of miles away on the other side of the country? New Times sent those questions to Shamp's spokesperson but has not heard back.

New Times also asked about Shamp's claim that FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has "run out of aid money" because President Joe Biden's administration has spent $1 billion "to aid illegal immigration." Wild if true, but it's not. That claim has been thoroughly debunked.

"We need unity in this country right now," Shamp concluded, "not dangerous and deplorable political theater."

Art criticism might not be in Sen. Shamp's future, but she's got political theater down pat.