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€.

    • Kiernian@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Yeah, I just looked up the quote. Why in the actual fuck the journalist asked him this is beyond me, but here we have it:

      What do you think of Donald Trump?

      I have no idea, Iā€™ve never met him. Heā€™s obviously not the classic politician, thatā€™s for sure. I can definitely laugh at some of the stuff he says but I can also go, ā€œOh my God, did he say that?ā€ I think heā€™s a fresh wind for some people, but thatā€™s what youā€™re voting for, I guess, right? Itā€™s a big job.

      As answers go, itā€™s pretty non-commital I suppose but not encouraging.