The naked Emporer is

[cilla4progress]

US. I thought it was tRump. But no - now the whole world knows that our democracy, our freedom, our Constitution itself - is one big lie and hoax! We have been revealed to the world as our true selves. Who knows if we cam ever regain our reputation. Only if we oust this disaster and his crew.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Another apt metaphor is "Potemkin village."

In politics and economics, a Potemkin village is any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is.

Grigory Potemkin was a favorite lover of the Russian Empress Catherine II. After the Russian annexation of Crimea from the Ottoman Empire, ... Potemkin became governor of the region. The region had been devastated by the war; Potemkin's major tasks were to rebuild it and bring in Russian settlers. In 1787, as a new war was about to break out between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, Catherine II with her court and several ambassadors made an unprecedented six-month trip to New Russia. The purpose of this trip was to impress Russia's allies prior to the war. To help accomplish this, Potemkin set up "mobile villages" on the banks of the Dnieper River. As soon as the barge carrying the Empress and ambassadors arrived, Potemkin's men, dressed as peasants, would populate the village. Once the barge left, the village was disassembled, then rebuilt downstream overnight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village