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A video showing a doctored image of US President Donald Trump shooting and assaulting members of the media and political opponents was shown at an event for his supporters last week at Mar-a-Lago, The New York Times reported.
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In the internet meme entitled "The Trumpsman", the US president's head is superimposed on an image of a man attacking people whose faces have been replaced with the logos of media outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, NBC and the BBC. The video has been taken from a scene in the film "Kingsman: The Secret Service".
As the rampage continues inside the "Church of Fake News", the Trump character strikes late senator John McCain on the back of the neck and torches the head of Senator Bernie Sanders, a 2020 Democratic presidential rival.
He throws former Republican senator Mitt Romney to the ground and strikes former president Barack Obama in the back before slamming him against a wall.
The video also depicts Trump attacking people including his 2016 presidential opponent Hillary Clinton; former president Bill Clinton; Congressman Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee who is leading the impeachment inquiry into Trump; actor Rosie O'Donnell; and financier George Soros, who is often a target of alt-right conspiracy theories. Trump is also shown attacking someone whose head has been superimposed with the Black Lives Matter logo.
The organiser of last week's "American Priority" event – which was held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Miami – said the clip was part of a "meme exhibit". Speakers at the conference included the presidents son Donald Trump Jr and former White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
"American Priority rejects all political violence and aims to promote a healthy dialogue about the preservation of free speech," Alex Phillips told The New York Times.
Enemies of the people
The White House Correspondents Association said in a statement that it was “horrified” by the video and that “all Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed towards journalists and [Trumps] political opponents”.
CNN wrote on Twitter: "This is not the first time that supporters of the President have promoted violence against the media in a video they apparently find entertaining, but it is by far and away the worst."
