In case you didn’t know, Donald Trump really hates the media. I mean, at least that’s what he wants you to think. He really loves the media and wants their universal approval of him, and when he doesn’t get it….well, that’s where terms like “fake news” come from. It’s his way of making it seem that any news story critical of him is seen as bogus by his supporters, and years of Trump doing this has created a violent hatred of the legit news media. Not only have we seen physical attacks and threats of violence against members of the media (some even by elected officials), but shit like what happened over the weekend has become all too common.
At a three-day conference held at Trump’s Dural resort by the conservative group American Priority, a video of the infamously violent and chaotic church scene in Kingsman: The Secret Service was doctored to show Trump murdering his perceived political and media rivals. Basically, all they did was put Trump’s head over that of Colin Firth’s Harry Hart, while he then slaughters figures such as Bernie Sanders, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rosie O’Donnell, Mitt Romney, The Young Turks, and even late senator John McCain. One of the victims is comedian Kathy Griffin, who conservatives flipped the fuck out over when she held up a decapitated Trump head as part of an ill-advised joke back in 2017. The hypocrisy speaks for itself.
In a statement, the conference’s organizer told the New York Times “Content was submitted by third parties and was not associated with or endorsed by the conference in any official capacity. American Priority rejects all political violence and aims to promote a healthy dialogue about the preservation of free speech. This matter is under review.”
That’s obviously horseshit. By allowing the video to be played there they are not only associated with it but endorse it.
The White House also didn’t have much to say about it, which isn’t surprising. A Trump spokesman blandly responded to the video with “That video was not produced by the campaign, and we do not condone violence.” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who can’t even be bothered to hold an actual press conference, tweeted “based upon everything he has heard he strongly condemns [it].”
If Trump truly condemns it, he would take to Twitter, his favorite platform for spewing hateful bile, and disavow not only those who made the video but the video’s content. However, he won’t do that. Not in any meaningful way. Trump is the same guy who couldn’t be bothered to condemn one of his supporters who took his rhetoric to heart and tried to send mail bombs to political rivals including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
I’m curious to know what Matthew Vaughn thinks of this. Doubtful he likes seeing his work used in this way, and if there’s any response from him or Fox/Disney we’ll update the post. I’m not going to post the video but you can find it here if you’re curious.
