Donald Trump described fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter “as a wonderful man.” Speaking at a campaign rally in Saturday, in New Jersey, he said. “Has anyone ever seen The Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’s a wonderful man. He often times 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 then returned to his theme of illegal migration where he said. “We have people that have been released into our country that we don’t want in our country, and they’re coming in totally unchecked, totally unvetted. And we can’t let this happen. They’re destroying our country, and we’re sitting back and we better damn well win this election, because if we don’t, our country is going to be doomed. It’s going to be doomed.”
Analysts say that the link between illegal migration and Hannibal Lecter was deliberate, as Trump has previously demonised migrants in his campaign speeches. In April, he had called migrants “animals” and “not human.” They believe that the former president has also used the trope of Hannibal Lecter on purpose as he has claimed that those crossing the border may be “mentally ill” or “violent criminals.”
Border control is a key part of the Republican plank and President Biden’s urging to Congress to pass the bill on Ukraine was held up by Republican claims that not enough was being done on border control.
Trump has referred to Hannibal before. According to the Guardian part of the reason is that the actor Mads Mikkelsen – who previously portrayed Lecter in a television series – had once described Trump as “a fresh wind for some people.”
Trump also took the opportunity to attack prominent celebrities who vote Democrat, at the rally. Picking on singer-song writer Bruce Springsteen, he said. “If some of these wackos came along, you know, these liberal singers, they’d actually vote for me. You know, like Bruce Springsteen. We have a much bigger crowd than Bruce Springsteen. Right?”
The reference to Springsteen again was not accidental. Springsteen who is a global superstar and has worked hard in the past to get Democrat candidates, elected. The move to attack Springsteen in New Jersey, analysts believe, could backfire as the singer is also a New Jersey icon.
Currently, polls suggest Trump will face a tough fight to win New Jersey. A poll released in April showed Biden leads Trump by 46 percent to 39 percent here. Biden also won here comfortably in 2020.
(Reuters and other agencies)
