Associated Press
President Donald Trump with first lady Melania Trump, speaks during a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
- President Donald Trump is on the cusp of being the third president to be impeached, and his social media team is bewildering the internet by editing the president's head onto fictional and public figures.
- Trump's team has long been known for its adept usage of social media and command of pop culture, but the president's team has taken the puzzling internet theatrics to new heights.
- In the past month, Trump or his campaign have posted photos of his head on the bodies of Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, genocidal "Avengers" villain Thanos, and climate activist Greta Thunberg.
- Pretty much everyone is confused.
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As President Donald Trump is on the cusp of being the third president to be formally impeached by Congress, his social media team is bewildering the internet by editing the president's head onto fictional and public figures.
Trump's camp has long been known for its adept usage of social media and command of pop culture, but they've taken their baffling online theatrics to new heights as Congress closes in on Trump.
In the past month alone, Trump's team have tried to command the news cycle and distract the country from the impeachment investigate with bizarre photo edits of Trump's head on the bodies of three fictional characters or celebrities.
The day before Thanksgiving, Trump tweeted a photo of his head edited on the body of a young Sylvester Stallone playing the fighter Rocky Balboa from the "Rocky" movies
The bizarre image, posted to Twitter with no caption, left the internet scrambling to discern its meaning. The original photo came from the poster image promoting the movie "Rocky III," which was released in 1982.
Trump posted the photo showing himself as a strong, bare-chested boxer amid scrutiny over his sudden, unplanned November 23 trip to Walter Reed Medical Center, which raised public speculation and concern over the state of Trump's health.
Who edited the picture and, more importanly, why they edited it remains a mystery.
On December 10, the Trump campaign edited Trump's head on the body of the genocidal villain "Thanos" from the "Avengers" movies
The altered video showed Trump, as Thanos, snapping his fingers and wiping out a group of House Democratic leaders announcing they would introduce articles of impeachment against Trump for abusing his office and obstructing Congress.
The Trump campaign's choice of comparing Trump to Thanos was bewildering, seeing as Thanos is the villain of the "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" who uses a tool called the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out half of existence with a snap of his fingers. And he isn't even completely in his murderous quest -- Thanos is ultimately defeated by the Avengers, who reverse his snap destroying half the world.
The next day, the same Trump account posted an unnerving photo of Trump's head edited on the body of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg
Trump was passed over for Time Magazine's 2019 Person of the Year in favor of Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish student who has risen to international fame for her powerful climate activism.
The president has been obsessed with being on the cover of Time for decades. He created multiple fake Time magazine covers with his face on it and even hung them in his properties and golf clubs throughout the United States for years. In the summer of 2017, Time formally requested that all Trump properties take down the fake magazine covers.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Trump tweeted a personal attack on Thunberg in reponse to her Time cover. "So ridiculous," he wrote. "Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!"
Thunberg responded in kind by changing her Twitter bio to read, "A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend."
The Trump campaign also recently edited a signature red Make America Great Again hat onto Baby Yoda from "Star Wars: The Mandalorian."
Trump's team has previously edited the president into "Game of Thrones" themed scenarios.
Trump is famous for announcing and promoting his official policy by tweet. Last November, his team announced sanctions on Iran with a play on "winter is coming," and used an image from "Game of Thrones" to celebrate the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
HBO, the producer of "Game of Thrones, responded to Trump's use of the image in a statement to the Washington Post, saying, "Though we can understand the enthusiasm for Game of Thrones now that the final season has arrived, we still prefer our intellectual property not be used for political purposes."
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Trump posted a photo of himself Photoshopped to look like Rocky Balboa, and hoo boy
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2019House Democrats can push their sham impeachment all they want.
President Trump's re-election is 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. pic.twitter.com/O7o02S26nS
- Trump War Room (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TrumpWarRoom) December 10, 2019When it comes to keeping his promises, there's only one Person Of The Year:
✅Booming Economy
✅Record Job Creation
✅Historic Tax Cuts
✅#AmericaFirst Trade Deals
✅ISIS Destroyed
✅Building the Wall#TIMEPOY #PromisesMadePromisesKept pic.twitter.com/pe1CNB7KKz
- Trump War Room (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TrumpWarRoom) December 11, 2019- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2019