President Donald Trump's supporters are finding creative ways to rage against his permanent ban from Twitter, but Game of Thrones fans are not taking it. On Friday, a pro-Trump account related a quote from one of the books the series is based on to Trump's permanent ban. In no time, fans of the series descended on the post to contextualize the words.
The quote came from A Clash of Kings, the second book in A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It read: "When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say." Those lines were uttered by Tyrion Lannister, both in the book and on the HBO series, where he was played by Peter Dinklage. However, fans quickly laid out how different that scenario was from the one Trump finds himself in now.
In Martin's story, Tyrion was referring to Ser Illyn Payne, a knight whose tongue was removed by "The Mad King" Aerys Targaryen. He later became the silent executioner for the next king, in a role rife with symbolism for various characters in the sprawling narrative.
While Payne was left unable to speak, users quickly pointed out how many different avenues of communication Trump still has aside from Twitter. The president can use official means of communication if he wants, with a hierarchical role starkly different from that of the fictional Payne.
On top of that, they pointed out that Martin personally does not support Trump, as he has explained at length on his blog. Martin even made a prolonged post on his blog on Thursday, calling for Trump to be arrested and tried for treason.
Other, more nuanced critiques of this misappropriated quote came out in the conversation that followed. Here is a look at how social media responded to Martin's quote being taken out of context.
George R. R. Martin's Politics