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Trump campaign portrays president as Marvel supervillain Thanos in impeachment backlash

Written by on 12/12/2019

Donald Trump’s campaign team has released a video portraying the president as supervillain Thanos from the Marvel comics films.

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The clip shows Mr Trump’s face superimposed onto the character’s body in a scene from Avengers: Endgame where Thanos says “I am inevitable” before snapping his fingers to wipe out half the world’s species.

It then cuts to footage of House speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats who disappear into a cloud of dust as they discuss the president’s possible impeachment.

The tweet, from the president’s “war room” campaign team, is captioned: “House Democrats can push their sham impeachment all they want.

“President Trump’s re-election is inevitable.”

In the film, after that scene, Thanos actually loses because Iron Man has stolen the Infinity Stones – needed by Thanos to complete his final genocide mission – and they are used against the villain to eliminate him.

The tweet was put out hours after House Democrats announced two articles of impeachment against the president.

Mr Trump told a campaign rally the charges, which accuse him of an abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, have pushed up his support and will get him re-elected.

Marvel comic writer Jim Starlin, who created Thanos in 1973, said he was not impressed by the use of his creation by the president’s campaign team.

He told The Hollywood Reporter: “After my initial feeling of being violated, seeing that pompous fool using my creation to stroke his infantile ego, it finally struck me that the leader of my country and the free world actually enjoys comparing himself to a mass murderer.

“How sick is that? These are sad and strange times we are going through. Fortunately all things, even national nightmares, eventually come to an end.”

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Fans of Avengers: Endgame, which is the highest grossing film ever, voiced their confusion over the use of the scene.

Historian Kevin M Kruse tweeted: “You’ve made Trump a supervillain and depicted him in the scene where his plan to kill everyone in the universe falls apart due to his arrogance and incompetence.”

Another fan added: “Somebody forgot to tell the Trump War Room how ‘Avengers: Endgame’ ended for Thanos.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Trump campaign portrays president as Marvel supervillain Thanos in impeachment backlash