I may not celebrate Easter myself, but from what I can tell, marshmallow Peeps and multi-colored eggs have nothing on the mad Easter game Mexico is running right now.


In an actual manifestation of Mexican president Vicente Fox’s response to Donald Trump’s claims that his so-called plan for a “wall” between the U.S. and Mexico will be paid by the country south-of-the-border, Mexican citizens have been setting effigies of our latest attempt at a bulbous, reality TV-produced anti-Christ.

The Washington Post did a pretty spot on description here:

“Or at least a 10-foot-tall papier-mache version of him: eyes wide, mouth agape, with a painted-on business suit and golden mane. On Saturday night, just as every year on the day before Easter, Mexicans gathered on street corners and church squares to celebrate the holy week and set fire to their Judases, a popular ritual in this heavily Catholic country. Those demons are typically forked-tongue devils and flaming dragons, and often, like this year, reviled politicians.”


To add a bit more context to the Mexican tradition described above, burning effigies also serves the purpose of a symbolic baptism-by-fire or cleansing of evil on one of the holiest days of the Catholic year.

But it’s the quotes, really, that are golden.

“For Latinos here and in the U.S., he’s a danger, a real threat,” said Leonardo Linares, 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.”

And: