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During the 2024 campaign, the “late great Hannibal Lecter” was one of Donald Trump’s favorite rally rants despite the fact that it was wrong in just about every conceivable way. Trump loved his error-ridden Silence of the Lambs bit so much that he even included it in his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.
Trump did not mention Lecter in his inaugural address, and in recent months it almost seemed as if he’d forgotten about his cannibal friend. But on Tuesday night, the president remedied this mistake. Trump lauded the serial killer while speaking at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, calling him a “very important force” in his reelection campaign. Trump said, according to Mediaite:
They used to go crazy when I talked about — when I talk about Hannibal Lecter. The late great Hannibal Lecter. Right? Silence of the Lambs. The fake news would say, “Why does he talk about that? He’s a fictional character.” He’s not. We have many of them that came across the border. He’s actually not. But when the people went to the voting booth, then we understood why he talked about that because they voted for us. They say, “We don’t want Hannibal Lecter in our country.”
The great Hannibal Lecter. He was, uh — he was a very important force. But the press would go absolutely crazy if I mentioned Hannibal Lecter’s name because they say he’s a fictional character. No, but it was making the point — and the point is they’re emptying mental institutions and insane asylums. Not anymore, they’re not.
If you only read Trump’s remarks, it looks as though he repeatedly denied that Lecter is a fictional character. This wouldn’t be that surprising since Trump often speaks about the serial killer, who was invented by the author Thomas Harris, as if he were a real person. But if you watch Trump’s speech, it seems what the president was trying to convey was “Though the press mocked me, my Silence of the Lambs metaphor was both correct and effective.”
In reality, Trump’s Hannibal Lecter bit is still almost entirely wrong. Lecter is not “great,” as he’s an unrepentant murderer. Nor is he “late” since he does not die in any book, film, or TV adaptation. While Trump often claimed Lecter was a big MAGA guy, no actor who played him ever praised Trump, and several vocally opposed him. And most important, foreign countries were not “emptying mental institutions and insane asylums” into the United States during the Biden administration.
But sure — it seems that repeatedly telling a colorful, incoherent lie to demonize migrants might have helped Trump get reelected. Huzzah!
