A recent tweet by the White House has caused a ruckus online, and if you’ve not seen the picture yet, you’re in for a strange ride.
It’s fair to say that US President Donald Trump has had an eventful couple of months.
From his awkward to-and-fro rant with Elon Musk to his efforts to ramp down tensions in the Middle East between Iran and Israel, things haven’t really been going his way.
Then there was his leaked threat to Russia, where he claimed to have threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with bombs.
But now he’s being utterly trolled online for an unusual post the White House shared.
In case you missed it, the POTUS has been the subject of one question after the odd comparison hit the social media platform.
Social media users weren’t sure if the White House was being serious (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It all started when the official account shared a meme showing Trump as Superman in an apparent attempt to draw on the attention the new movie is getting as it’s set to release today (July 11).
“THE SYMBOL OF HOPE. TRUTH. JUSTICE. THE AMERICAN WAY. SUPERMAN TRUMP,” the post reads above a picture of the president parodying the movie’s poster.
In the image, Trump’s face has been merged onto the body of the superhero wearing the iconic red and blue Lycra suit.
However, it immediately drew backlash from his political opponents, with California Democratic Rep Robert Garcia retorting: “He’s literally Lex Luthor.”
Political commentator Mehdi Hasan compared Trump’s meme to what would have been the reaction if Biden had done the same thing.
They said: “Just imagine the response if the Biden White House had posted something like this. But Trump is graded on some kind of never-seen-before curve and this craziness is normalized.”
The White House appeared to compare Donald Trump to Superman (X/@WhiteHouse)
For others, it was such a strange image to see that they were all asking the same question: Are you serious?
One person claimed, ‘you guys aren’t serious’, before adding: “The movie *Idiocracy* is nothing compared to this.”
AI creator Mario Pawlowski went on to comment about the origins of Superman, writing: “Superman was an illegal immigrant growing up on an American farm and a hero from a comic book. Trump is a total opposite of Superman, a Superloser.”
While many mocked the post, some supporters defended it (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But some others were all for the meme.
One person praised: “Trump isn’t just Superman – he’s a LEGEND. Most investigated man in human history by every alphabet agency, every prosecutor, every corrupt institution… and they found NOTHING. Meanwhile, they’re all terrified of what HE knows about THEM. That’s not just innocent – that’s untouchable. Superman doesn’t just fight villains – he exposes them.”
The same account wrote: “Trump is the real Superman. Always has been. Always will be.”
Someone else commented: “Strong, bold, unstoppable just like the country he’s fighting to restore and protect.”
While commenters battled it out on the thread, with insults hurled from either side, the meme generated 18.8 million views in just 18 hours.
I wonder what the White House’s next post will be…
