Given how much time Donald Trump spends in front of televisions, it’s not too surprising that the former president occasionally tries to make political points by way of pop culture references. The trouble is, he’s just not especially good at it.

In January 2019, for example, the Republican tried to use “Game of Thrones” as part of a clumsy argument about his border-wall project, and the whole thing fell apart rather quickly. In April 2020, Trump talked about the Captain William Bligh character from “Mutiny on the Bounty,” though it wasn’t altogether clear whether the then-president realized that Bligh was the villain of the story.

Over the weekend, the presumptive GOP nominee’s latest attempt at a pop culture reference went about as well. The New York Times reported:

In an extended riff at his rally on Saturday in New Jersey, former President Donald J. Trump returned to a reference that has become a staple of his stump speech, comparing migrants to Hannibal Lecter, the fictional serial killer and cannibal from “The Silence of the Lambs,” as he aims to stoke anger and fear over migration in advance of the election.

“Silence of the Lambs. Has anyone ever seen ‘The Silence of the Lambs’?” Trump asked the audience. “The late, great Hannibal Lecter is a wonderful man. He oftentimes would have a friend for dinner. Remember the last scene? ‘Excuse me. I’m about to have a friend for dinner,’ as this poor doctor walked by. ‘I’m about to have a friend for dinner.’ But Hannibal Lecter. Congratulations. The late, great Hannibal Lecter.”

Trump has spent recent months echoing Hitler while lashing out at immigrants, complaining that immigration is “poisoning the blood of our country” and describing migrants as “vermin.”

But the Republican is apparently looking for ways to up the ante — leading him to equate undocumented immigrants with the most famous cannibal in cinematic history.

What was far less clear to me, however, was why Trump described the fictional character the way he did. “The late, great Hannibal Lecter”? A “wonderful man” whom the former president “congratulates”? A New York Times report added:

Throughout his campaign this year, Mr. Trump has frequently brought up Hannibal Lecter, once calling him “legendary” and another time referring to him as a nice fellow. … It is not clear what Mr. Trump meant by “late, great,” given that neither the character — nor the actor who played the role — have died, in person, film or the books the character originated from.

Perhaps Trump should simply stop trying to make cultural references? They never seem to go well for him.

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‘Why are you cheering that on?’: Joe reacts to Trump’s ‘bizarre’ praise of Hannibal Lecter at rally May 13, 2024 / 01:48