Trump declares himself Superman amid MAGA meltdown over ‘woke’ reboot

The White Home has returned to meme mode, this time sharing a doctored picture of President Donald Trump as Superman simply days after MAGA pundits referred to as the brand new superhero reboot too “woke.”

The surreal submit, shared on the official White Home X account, reveals Trump’s face on the Man of Metal’s physique with the caption: “THE SYMBOL OF HOPE. TRUTH. JUSTICE. THE AMERICAN WAY. SUPERMAN TRUMP.”

It didn’t take lengthy for the backlash to comply with.

“I never thought I’d see the day when the White House is just a joke. This is so embarrassing,” one person commented.

“I found his kryptonite… the Epstein files,” one other joked, making a delicate jab at Trump’s long-rumored hyperlinks to convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019.

However not everybody was upset. Actor Dean Cain, who performed Superman within the ’90s TV sequence “Lois & Clark,” responded to the White Home’s submit with a laughing-crying emoji. 

A vocal Trump supporter, Cain additionally advised TMZ, “How woke is Hollywood going to make this character? How much is Disney going to change their Snow White? Why are they going to change these characters [to] exist for the times?”

It’s clear what sparked the meme: MAGA’s newest obsession with the brand new “Superman” film, turning it right into a tradition warfare battleground.

Director James Gunn, greatest recognized for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” added gasoline to the hearth by calling Superman “the story of America. An immigrant who came from other places and populated the country.” 

He’s not the primary to say so. In 2019, DC Comics described Superman as “the ultimate example of a refugee who makes his new home better,” noting that the character was created by the sons of Jewish immigrants.

That framing—Superman as an immigrant—was simply an excessive amount of for some conservatives.

Kellyanne Conway is among the many right-wing commentators who’re triggered by the “Superman” reboot’s “wokeness.”

The movie, closely promoted and projected to gross greater than $200 million globally, now additionally serves as a political flashpoint. Trump’s meme might entice conservative moviegoers, but it surely comes amid his administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown, which has prompted lawsuits and protests nationwide.

Apparently, the controversy round “Superman” is simply the most recent flare-up in a broader right-wing campaign in opposition to so-called “woke” reboots. Like Disney’s live-action variations of “The Little Mermaid” and “Snow White,” which confronted backlash and racist tirades for casting girls of colour as leads, Gunn’s movie has grow to be a part of the tradition warfare crossfire.

For Trump, this isn’t the primary time he’s photoshopped himself into popular culture. In Could, the White Home posted an AI picture of him dressed because the pope, despite the fact that Trump isn’t even Catholic.

For a president who’s at all times considered himself as bigger than life, the “Superman Trump” picture could be much less about trolling and extra about projection. However with a blockbuster movie and a serious immigration battle occurring on the similar time, the symbolism feels as unhinged as it’s on-brand.