President Donald Trump surprised the Twittersphere on Wednesday by posting a bizarre, edited photo of his face superimposed on Rocky Balboa‘s chiseled body, immortalized on film by Sylvester Stallone. In the photo, “Trump” poses with boxing gloves on, just like Stallone did in the 1982 Rocky III poster.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2019
Twitter immediately erupted with responses to the caption-less tweet, which was likely a jab at the ongoing impeachment investigation into the president. Many were confused by it, others celebrated it, and others still chose to embrace the oddity of it all.
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“Does this man get any work done?” one Twitter user wrote.
“Best tweet ever. Liberal heads are exploding everywhere. I love it,” another said.
“do you have any idea just how ridiculous this is,” someone else said.
“The idea that we have a president who actually tweets something like this is the saddest thing I have seen,” another wrote.
“are we to understand that this is what you look like under all the flab and arterial plaque? doubt it bruh,” someone tweeted.
You’ve never looked like this in your life. Tweeting this out for world leaders to see is bad for the U.S. VP Pence should be in discussion with Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader McConnell about the 25th Amendment. You need serious intervention.
— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) November 27, 2019
Expectations vs. Reality pic.twitter.com/AffwLQQyKj
— ❄️ Svarun 🇪🇺 (@svarun_01) November 27, 2019
🎶🎵🎶
They’re coming to take me away ha-haaa
They’re coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-haaa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I’ll be happy to see those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they’re coming to take me away ha-haaa🎶🎵🎶
— Jon Cooper 🇺🇸 (@joncoopertweets) November 27, 2019
Just two hours after Trump tweeted the image on Wednesday, it had racked up nearly 60,000 retweets, 181,000 likes and nearly 50,000 replies.
Trump has been constantly denouncing the impeachment inquiry, denying any quid pro quo transaction with the Ukraine and calling the inquiry a “hoax.” On Tuesday, he wrote that he was “fighting” for future presidents.
The image was sent about an hour after the president arrived at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, nearby his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he is set to spend Thanksgiving with his family.
Sylvester Stallone, who played Balboa in the Rocky films, has been to the White House to meet with Trump and previously advocated for the posthumous pardon of the late heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson, who was convicted in the early 1900s of transporting a woman across state lines “for immoral purposes.”