President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted a video of a grotesquely transformed scene from the 1996 movie “Independence Day” that stuck images of Republicans’ (and Donald Trump Jr.‘s) heads on actors’ bodies — and made Trump the hero.
Trump apparently viewed the manipulated clip as calling Americans back to a reopened economy amid the COVID-19 crisis. But the speech could also be interpreted as a call to Americans to fight for their lives.
In the actual film, the world is being destroyed by a mighty extraterrestrial force. A ragtag band of pilots saves the day — on the Fourth of July.
The chosen scene from the real film features fictional president Thomas J. Whitmore, a former Gulf War fighter pilot — played by Bill Pullman — calling the heroes to action.
The twisted version still uses Pullman and his voice, but images of Trump’s head have been superimposed on his body. Spectators enraptured by his speech include Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson of Fox News, a teary-eyed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ivanka Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and several others.
“Mankind. That word should have new meaning for us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore,” “Trump” says in a particularly startling line in Pullman’s voice. “We will be united in our common interests.”
We’re “fighting for our right to live, to exist,” adds “Trump.”
In an odd twist for a man who extols “America First,” the president in the video says: “Should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice, ’We will not go quietly into the night. ... We’re going to live. We’re going to survive.”
The video was created by “Mad ‘ObamaGate’ Liberals” and appears to be part of what Trump has termed his “keyboard warriors” fighting Twitter battles on his behalf. “So honored to be part of the meme war,” boasted a member of the Mad Libs, who describes himself as a “video manipulator making memes for our President!”
“Obamagate” is Trump’s latest favorite phrase, but he has yet to provide any specifics or even name a crime linked to “Obamagate.”
Twitter critics had some interesting reviews — and lots of other memes.
“Saturday Night Live” had a very different vision of “Trump” in a spoof “Independence Day” scene in 2017.
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