A top State Department diplomat has freaked out over a statue.
Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau worried that a U.S. bull statue due to feature in an international exhibition looked too much like the ancient god Baal.
Some associate the deity with child sacrifice, which sparked concern in Landau and led to production stalling ahead of next year’s Expo 2027 in Belgrade, Serbia.
According to Axios, Landau’s critics inside the department said he can be preoccupied with the unimportant and spends too much time on social media.
The bull was meant as an homage to the American West, and the news site reports that Landau’s removal of it led to eye rolls and giggles from some in the department.
“It’s just totally weird stuff and it’s really indicative of the guy,” a State Department official said.
“I remain somewhat concerned by the Golden Bull imagery!” he said in an August email to staffers. “Did a quick internet search and don’t want it to become a distraction. The golden calf from the Bible is often portrayed as a golden bull.”
“The imagery of a golden bull or calf is frequently invoked metaphorically today,” he added in the note. “For instance, critics and commentators sometimes compare modern financial fixations—typified by the famous Charging Bull statue on Wall Street to the ancient worship of material idols.”
He also discussed “Modern Cultural Comparisons” in the email, which included hyperlinks and images, Axios reported.
“Literally, no one thinks about Baal unless they’re spending way too much time online, which Landau is,” a second official said.
“It’s like an episode of Veep. Someone should tell him this is a Western bull, not a Near East bull,” said a third.
The statue’s pause has left officials scrambling to make it not look like Satan while still keeping it interesting, Axios reported.
Sources told the outlet that he has also clashed with the administration on more than one occasion, including with Trump-appointed U.S. Special Representative for Global Partnerships Paolo Zampolli. Zampolli is a friend of Trump’s.
Marking the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in February, Iranians burned effigies of a bull in cities around the country.
Some of the effigies burned featured the likenesses of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Independent Persian-language network Iran International reported that one burned in Tehran’s Azadi Square featured the number “666.″
The symbol also became tangled in conspiracy theories online that made links to the dead child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Conspiracy theories claimed he held a bank account using the name Baal.
The Daily Beast has contacted the State Department for comment.
