After trying again to seem like the strongmen—genocidal dictators—he so admires, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump is backpedaling fast and trying to explain away a meme he posted Saturday that targeted the city of Chicago, Illinois, for military invasion.
The AI-generated meme used actor Robert Duvall's iconic stance, body—with an idealized version of Trump's face superimposed—and line from the film Apocalypse Now. The image included the Chicago skyline and text reading "Chipocalypse Now."
The text read:
"'I love the smell of deportations in the morning…'"
"Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR."
You can see Trump's tough guy post from Truth Social here:
@@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
But instead of the admiration he craves, Trump's post drew widespread criticism for declaring war against American citizens and an American city in an attempt to discredit a Democratic governor—Illinois' JB Pritzker—that Trump's own administration has repeatedly identified as a potential candidate for President in 2028.
Trump has used the same tactic against Democratic Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Wes Moore of Maryland, targeting Los Angeles and Baltimore, after they too were identified as potential presidential candidates.
Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth pointed out Sunday on Face the Nation:
"[President Trump] essentially just declared war on a major city in his own nation."
"This is not normal. This is not acceptable behavior."
Senator Duckworth, a decorated disabled combat veteran, added:
"The more we’re talking about Chicago, the less we’re talking about the Epstein files."
"That’s what Trump wants."
Governor Pritzker responded on X:
"The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal."
"Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator."
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson posted on X:
"The President’s threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution."
"We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump."
Many others joined them in condemning Trump's violent rhetoric.
On Sunday, Trump backtracked on his Department of War comment, claiming he was misunderstood.
He told a "second rate" reporter from NBC:
"We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our cities. We're going to clear them up so they don't kill every five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense."
A likely story.
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