Ahead of Veterans Day, a statute sharply lampooning the president and his lack of military service appeared on the National Mall. Donald Trump did not serve during the Vietnam War, citing bone spurs in his feet. The installation, by the group Secret Handshake, features an enormous golden Trump on a pedestal rubbing a sore foot. A plaque reads: “We honor the service and sacrifice of our Commander in Chief, Donald J. Trump. He is a soldier in spirit, who marched to the front to dodge the draft, armed with a perfect diagnosis of bone spurs. We salute a leader who knows you can’t spell sacrifice without ‘I,’ and a warrior who reminds us that sometimes, when you are called to stand up, “I can be very military,” the plaque says. There is also an interactive element to the installation, according to a Secret Handshake release. He will be a “six-foot draft-dodging pet” named “Toey.”
