Mexicans Torch 10-Foot Donald Trump Effigy in Easter Cleansing Ritual

Each year, many Mexicans traditionally burn papier mache Judas figures on the night before Easter Sunday as part of a ritual meant to ward off evils while celebrating Christ's rebirth.

This year they burned Donald Trump.

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A 10-foot paper mock-up of the billionaire businessman lit up the night sky Saturday in Mexico City as hundreds gathered to watch Trump--who's been a source of intense ire to many in the country since announcing his bid for president--turn to ash.

The effigy was the handiwork of Mexico City artist Leonardo Linares, who built it in the days leading up to the holy week celebrations.

"For Latinos here and in the U.S., he's a danger," Linares, told the Washington Post. "He's a good man to burn as a Judas."

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Trump, who holds a wide--and widely contended--lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination--has been a loathed figured in Mexico since he used the occasion of his campaign's inaugural speech to paint Mexicans as rapists and murderers who he'll make pay for a wall on America's southern border.

Also among the figures chosen to be burned was an ISIS fighter. President Barack Obama also made the list.

But it was Trump who reportedly elicited the biggest cheers of "death, death!" as he went up in flames.

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