Conservatives can sleep well knowing they've just found their weekly, inconsequential subject to be mad about. This time, the newly-erected statues of Breaking Bad characters Walter White and Jesse Pinkman — played by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul — are taking the heat.
Republican New Mexico State Representative Rod Montoya has recently slammed Albuquerque's decision to put up the statues, asking Fox News if the monument of the AMC drama means "we're going down the road of literally glorifying meth makers?"
If those dramatics weren't enough, conservative talk radio host Eddy Aragon — who ran against sitting Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and lost — has used the new sculptures to criticize the city's decision to remove a statue of historical figure Juan de Oñate. It's important to note that de Oñate ordered the massacre of around 1,000 Acoma people and facilitated the enslavement of roughly 500 survivors.
"Now we have brand-new statues," he said [via Fox News]. "Now we're putting fictional characters out in front. We have Jesse Pinkman and, of course, Heisenberg, and we have now erected statues and our progressive mayor from the city of Albuquerque has stood behind them. We're funding those, so it's OK to go get rid of real historical figures and now, somehow it's even better, to [have] fictional, drug-dealing figures."
Unveiled on July 30, the statues were commissioned by Sony Pictures Television — with no taxpayer money going into the project. Keller, a Democrat, acknowledged the $400 million USD in production and tourism that Breaking Bad brought into the city. "While the stories might be fictional… jobs are real every single day," he said [via Consequence].
All of this outrage comes off the heels of the Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul's series finale, which aired this week.
Republican New Mexico State Representative Rod Montoya has recently slammed Albuquerque's decision to put up the statues, asking Fox News if the monument of the AMC drama means "we're going down the road of literally glorifying meth makers?"
If those dramatics weren't enough, conservative talk radio host Eddy Aragon — who ran against sitting Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and lost — has used the new sculptures to criticize the city's decision to remove a statue of historical figure Juan de Oñate. It's important to note that de Oñate ordered the massacre of around 1,000 Acoma people and facilitated the enslavement of roughly 500 survivors.
"Now we have brand-new statues," he said [via Fox News]. "Now we're putting fictional characters out in front. We have Jesse Pinkman and, of course, Heisenberg, and we have now erected statues and our progressive mayor from the city of Albuquerque has stood behind them. We're funding those, so it's OK to go get rid of real historical figures and now, somehow it's even better, to [have] fictional, drug-dealing figures."
Unveiled on July 30, the statues were commissioned by Sony Pictures Television — with no taxpayer money going into the project. Keller, a Democrat, acknowledged the $400 million USD in production and tourism that Breaking Bad brought into the city. "While the stories might be fictional… jobs are real every single day," he said [via Consequence].
All of this outrage comes off the heels of the Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul's series finale, which aired this week.
