Now that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report was made public, Donald Trump continued his victory lap over believing he was fully exonerated from charges of obstruction.
After convincing himself he was vindicated, he went right back to bashing the investigation, calling it "phony and fraudulent."
He went even further by latching onto the popularity of HBO's fantasy drama Game of Thrones by tweeting a meme of himself, signaling it was "Game Over."
Trump mimicked an advertisement for GoT, featuring an image with his back turned, with the words:
"No collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left democrats...Game Over."
HBO cautioned the president a second time, saying that the premium cable channel preferred to stay out of politics.
"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."
Last year, Trump used a meme inspired by GoT to promote his reinstating of all U.S. sanctions on Iran previously removed in 2015 under the nuclear deal agreed upon by P5+1 – the group of world powers that included the U.S., U.K., France, China, Russia, and Germany.
Trump tweeted "Sanctions are coming November 5," to which HBO responded:
"We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes."
The message never got to Trump.
Twitter relentlessly mocked Trump by re-purposing his feeble attempt at coming off as a champion.
One of the revelations from Mueller's report was Trump's reaction after hearing Mueller was appointed to the investigation.
When Jeff Sessions spilled the beans, Trump reportedly said:
"This is the end of my presidency. I'm f-cked."
The tired tagline got another makeover, and it was well-played.
The White House does need a serious comb-over.
The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones was anticipated to be the most exciting yet. This couldn't be any further from the truth.
We're hoping for many twists and turns with a satisfying outcome, because as far as we're concerned, the game is still on.
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter