Overview:
A Black MAGA pastor’s blessing of a towering golden Trump statue ignited a fierce debate over faith, political power, and whether parts of American Christianity are drifting from worship into personality cult.
Before the prayers began and the cameras started rolling, Pastor Mark Burns stood beside a towering, golden statue of President Donald Trump at the president’s private club and insisted critics — including evangelical Christians with the Book of Exodus in mind — were looking at it the wrong way.
“This is not a golden calf,” Burns, who is Black and a staunch Trump supporter, declared as he blessed the 22-foot monument at Trump National Doral golf club in Miami this week.
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Critics across social media, including many Black Christians, disagreed. They compared the erection of a golden statue of a man many believe was elected by divine providence to one of the Bible’s most infamous warnings about idol worship.
‘A Little Closer to Hell’
Threads user maryhallrayford’s reaction was typical: Burns “has been there from the beginning, kissing the orange behind. What has he gotten for it? A little closer to hell!”
That history is part of why Burns’ role in the statue dedication landed so hard inside Black church and political circles.
The image of a Black pastor praying over a massive golden Trump monument — while Trump allies describe the president in increasingly messianic language — collided head-on with a Black church tradition shaped by resistance to authoritarian power, racial oppression, and the dangerous fusion of politics and religion.
To critics, the statue itself is secondary to a bigger question: what happens when faith stops challenging power and starts sanctifying it.
And for Burns, the moment was the latest chapter in a decade-long transformation from a relatively unknown South Carolina preacher to one of the MAGA world’s most visible Black pastors.
Divine Intervention, or Luck?
The 22-foot monument, known as “Don Colossus,” depicts Trump, then a presidential candidate, raising his fist in the air, mirroring the defiant gesture he made after surviving a 2024 assassination attempt during a campaign stop in Butler, Pennsylvania. Many Trump supporters believe that divine intervention spared Trump and saw it as proof he was destined to become president.
To critics, the statue itself is secondary to a bigger question: what happens when faith stops challenging power and starts sanctifying it.
Given the golden image of Trump and the statue’s unorthodox funding — cryptocurrency investors associated with the $PATRIOT memecoin bankrolled the project — a person of faith and conversant with the Hebrew Scriptures could not help but compare it to the well-known scene in Exodus. While waiting for Moses to descend the mountain after his conversation with God, the Israelites melted gold they’d collected from their Egyptian bondsmen and crafted a golden calf that they not only worshiped but believed was responsible for their new freedom.
Although Burns quickly addressed comparisons to the biblical golden calf in his remarks at the unveiling, the backlash prompted him to issue a follow-up statement after the ceremony. “We worship the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone.”
Losing Ground with Evangelicals
Although he wasn’t there in person, Trump phoned into the unveiling and singled out Burns for praise. “I want to thank Mark Burns, a pastor,” the president said. “He’s a good pastor, he’s a good man.”
Many evangelicals confess support for the president as someone divinely appointed, anointed and protected by God; such as Robert Jeffress. He told Fox News that Trump “has a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about the role of government than the pope has.”
A survey from Pew Research Center in late January found that his approval rating with the group stood at 69 percent. A more recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll put it at 64 percent, down 5 points from January.
Still, the imagery surrounding the dedication sparked criticism from many Christians and commentators, who argued that the statue reflected a troubling merger of political loyalty and religious devotion.
‘Recreational Idolatry’
On “The View,” conservative commentator Ana Navarro mocked the display as carrying “small dictator energy” during a discussion about the monument and the worship controversy surrounding it.
Late-night TV host Stephen Colbert also ridiculed the spectacle, describing the unveiling as “recreational idolatry” during an episode of “The Late Show.”
In one widely shared Reddit discussion reacting to the ceremony, commenters repeatedly compared the statue to the golden calf story found in Exodus.
One commenter wrote, “The statue of trump is the EXACT same as the golden calf.” Another posted, “This is a core repeated message in the bible about how this is bad.”
Supporters of the unveiling insist critics are mischaracterizing the event. Burns argued that honoring political figures through monuments is not inherently religious.
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“This statue was not created for worship,” Burns said in comments published by Premier Christian News. “It was created as a symbol of resilience, patriotism, courage, and gratitude.”
According to Alan Cottrill, the artist who created the monument, the statue cost approximately $450,000 after organizers requested a gold-leaf finish that Trump reportedly favored.