Texas Wax Museum Moves Vandalized Trump Statue to Storage

Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks in San Antonio, Texas sent their model of former President Donald Trump into storage after it was repeatedly defaced.

A wax replica of 45th President Donald Trump has been withdrawn from the Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks on Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, Texas. Attraction owner Ripley Entertainment’s Regional Manager, Clay Stewart, told the San Antonio Express-News that while figures are typically rotated in and out based on their popularity with visitors, former President Trump’s likeness was removed due to significant damage.

“When it’s a highly political figure, attacks can be a problem,” Stewart said. The Trump statue had been repeatedly attacked, taking punches and deep, gouging scratches to the face. Eventually, the visible damage forced them to pull it from the floor. Those attacks peaked during the political animosity of the 2020 election. The tourist hotspot tried moving it to the lobby where employees could keep an eye on it, but their efforts failed to deter further damage.

Stewart suggested the possibility of another term for the wax Trump, but that it was unlikely to prioritize its repair and return until they receive the newly-crafted wax figure of President Joe Biden, currently being crafted at Ripley Entertainment’s headquarters in Orlando, Florida. For now, Trump is stored with George Washington and over 30 others waiting in storage for another run.

But Trump is not the only President who has needed additional measures to keep intact: “We’ve always had trouble with the presidential section because no matter what president it was — Bush, Obama, or Trump — they’ve all had people beat them,” Stewart explained. “The ears were torn off Obama six times. And then Bush’s nose was punched in.”

In an e-mail response to local NBC affiliate WOAI San Antonio, Ripley Entertainment spokesperson Suzanne Smagala-Potts said such damage is relatively routine. “We are always doing maintenance and upkeeping whether its major or minor damage,” she said. “We’re constantly updating so everything is always fresh and new.”

Meanwhile, at the Grand Prairie, Texas location, manager Vera Davis has experienced none of the same aggression. Davis said their figure has not even been attacked once since its installation in 2017. “He’s a big photo op here,” she said. The cause of that difference remains unknown.

Ripley Entertainment anticipated some measure of turmoil surrounding the Trump replica, acknowledging the potential controversy when they first distributed it in 2017. “Just as in real life, wax Trump is polling at about 50% — loved by some visitors, loathed by others,” a Ripley’s press release said at the time. “Come by and show your love or dislike for the President-elect.”