The buzz surrounding White House adviser Ivanka Trump‘s curious Stormtrooper family photo isn’t dying down anytime soon. After the 37-year-old mother of three took to Twitter over the weekend to share a photo of her son dressed as one of the iconic Star Wars characters, joking that “the force is strong in my family,” social media was ignited with criticism, and comedian Patton Oswalt couldn’t help but join in, pointing out the hypocrisy and flaws on Trump’s statement.
“Force”? Doubtful. Your son is dressed as a Stormtrooper, who serve as the Palpatine Empire’s shock forces and were originally introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Originally cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett… (1/17,313) https://t.co/w4sjsANDfW
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) September 29, 2019
The note drew plenty of reactions, both positive and negative, from the remainder of social media.
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“Bless you, my hero,” one person wrote.
“The parentheses made me spit out a breath saver,” another commented.
“I’m no fan of the Trumps (understatement) but that’s a kid in that photo who is obviously a fan of the franchise. Probably best to leave him alone,” someone else stated.
“Oh, it’s even better: That’s a First Order stormtrooper uniform. At least the Empire had an Old-School Sith Lord up top. 1st Order just had some Force-sensitive schmuck in charge, & a Knight of Stimpy or smthg under him,” added a fourth. “Your family’s got precisely BANTHA-POODOO going for it.”
“I’d say pick on someone your own size but the kid is your size. Carry on attacking children,” one criticized Oswalt’s antics.
Oswalt, a longtime oppose of the Trump administration, also retweeted a tweet from Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, after the actor criticized Trump’s photo with a correction.
You misspelled “Fraud.”#GoForceYourself https://t.co/ORY6eeyGgj
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) September 29, 2019
The buzz surrounding Trump’s tweet came after she took to both Twitter and Instagram on Saturday with the photo, showing herself and husband Jared Kushner dressed to the nines in evening ware as their 8-year-old daughter, Arabella, and 5-year-old son, Joseph, donned casual attire. Meanwhile, 3-year-old Theodore wore the stormtrooper costume, leading Trump to reference the iconic quote spoken by Skywalker about his father, the villain Darth Vader, and leading to plenty of backlash.
“The stormtroopers are the bad guys,” one person wrote.
“You and your family represent the exact opposite of everything Star Wars stands for. Your family’s values are that of the Sith. Your father is doing to this country what Palpatine did to the galaxy,” another commented. “You are the evil empire and the rebellion is just beginning.”
The comments, both negative and positive, come as President Donald Trump faces increased scrutiny. Last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives will formally launch a presidential impeachment inquiry following a whistleblower complaint that the 45th president had urged Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, over a number issues.
Shortly after the announcement was made, the president took to Twitter to slam the proceedings as “Presidential Harassment.” He later called it a “witch hunt.”