Ex-president calls Hopkinsā€™ cannibalistic Lecter ā€˜late, greatā€™ while condemning ā€˜people who are being released into our countryā€™

Donald Trump on Saturday praised fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter ā€œas a wonderful manā€ before segueing into comments disparaging people who have immigrated into the US without permission.

The former presidentā€™s remarks to political rally-goers in Wildwood, New Jersey, as he challenges Joe Bidenā€™s re-election in November were a not-so-subtle rhetorical bridge exalting Anthony Hopkinsā€™ cannibalistic Lecter in Silence of the Lambs as ā€œlate [and] greatā€ while simultaneously condemning ā€œpeople who are being released into our country that we donā€™t wantā€.

Trump delivered his address to an estimated crowd of about 80,000 supporters under the shadow of the Great White roller coaster in a 1950s-kitsch seaside resort 90 miles (144.8km) south of Philadelphia.

The occasion served for Trump to renew his stated admiration for Lecter, as heā€™s done before, after the actor Mads Mikkleson ā€“ who previously portrayed Lecter in a television series ā€“ once described Trump as ā€œa fresh wind for some peopleā€.

    • kwomp2@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      I donā€™t know which one is actually worse.

      A nostalgia themed glamourizing of brutality right next to ā€œunwanted peopleā€. No explanation of how those two things connect, so all that stays is the association.

      Kind of on a neuro-marketing like level of discours (just strenghtening your associations by creating emotions or atmosphere) he is mobilizing violence against immigrants. (And normalizing violence as a means of governing in general)

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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        6 months ago

        (And normalizing violence as a means of governing in general)

        Yeah. I think as his dementia is getting more pronounced, his general admiration for people who kill you if you disagree with them is getting more explicit and weirdly specific and heā€™s talking about it a lot more openly.

        Itā€™s hard to tell even what the hell he means when heā€™s talking about Hannibal Lecter. Thatā€™s the only reason I say itā€™s worse when heā€™s talking about deporting protestors, because itā€™s very clear what he means and it has more of a pathway to becoming reality. But I agree; my best guess when he talks about Hannibal Lecter and Al Capone is simply that heā€™s playing it straight ā€“ he admires someone who can casually talk about murdering other people, and aspires to be like that, because that means strength.