HBO has officially responded to President Donald Trump posting a Game of Thrones-style photo promoting his political stance on the recently completed Mueller Report.
In the photo, the U.S. President is shown surrounded by smoke and with his back turned away.
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“No Collusion. No obstruction. For the haters and the radical left democrats – Game Over,” the image reads, using what appears to be a GoT style font.
โ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2019
In response, HBO has issued a statement on the image, and it seems as if they are not fans.
“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,” the cable network said, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
HBO has released a statement in response to #Trump‘s #GameOfThrones meme: โThough 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” https://t.co/wVeawJEgfp
โ Hollywood Reporter (@THR) April 18, 2019
This is actually not the first time that Trump has used Game of Thrones as the inspiration for a political promo image, as he did it for the fist time back in November of last year.
That particular visual featured a photo of the president with the words “Sanctions are coming November 5,” in the Game of Thrones font.
โ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018
“We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes,” a spokesperson for HBO said at that time.
However, the network also took to social media as well to joke about the situation. “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?” HBO quipped.
How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?
โ HBO (@HBO) November 2, 2018
Following Trump’s newest GoT image, many fans of the show have come out to chide the President for his use of the series’ unique branding without getting permission.
One person joked that this is the “worst GoT episode ever,” while someone else tweeted, “I didn’t think anything could possibly ruin Game of Thrones. I was wrong.”
โ VVO)))LFMAN (@TheWolfman) April 18, 2019
Trump’s new image is in direct response to the Mueller Report being made public in a redacted format.
“As we were watching it, I couldn’t help but think that the President must be thrilled and it appears he is,” NBC News’ White House correspondent Hallie Jackson said of the situation.
“He is tweeting now, a riff off of the popular television show Game of Thrones writing simply, ‘game over.’โฆ This is the President’s pre-report release victory lap, if you will. His administration is clearly trying to set what they believe is the narrative for this even before anybody … has had the chance to see the content of the report itself,” Jackson added.