A video of President Donald Trump staging a mass shooting in the “Church of Fake News” and killing his political and media opponents has electrified social media Monday.
The video was reportedly shown at Trump’s National Doral Miami resort in Florida to supporters, according to The New York Times.
Scene from a video that shows a fake President Donald Trump staging a mass shooting at “The Church of Fake News,” screenshot taken Oct. 14, 2019. Twitter screenshot.
The production has apparently taken the Trump campaign by surprise, with a spokesman saying they know nothing about it. (RELATED: Trump Says His Campaign’s Real Opponent Is The ‘Fake News Media,’ Not The Democrats)
Trump Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham has reacted to the video, saying that the president “has not yet seen the video,” but planned to do so. However, “based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video.”
“That video was not produced by the campaign, and we do not condone violence,” Tim Murtaugh told The Times. The video is a spoof of ‘The Church Fight” scene appearing in the movie “Kingsman: The Secret Service.” The spoof video is part of many produced by the TheGeekzTeam that portray the president as an action star or super hero battling the liberal news media and Democratic politicians. “The Trumpsman” was first uploaded to YouTube in October 2018.
Several top advisors to the president, including Donald Trump, Jr., former White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were expected to speak at a three-day conference organized by the Trump allied group, American Priority. None have confirmed seeing the video, according to The Times.
The video is generating outrage and discussion on Twitter.
1. NEW: A video depicting a macabre scene of a fake President Trump shooting, stabbing & brutally assaulting members of the news media & his political opponents was shown at a conference for his supporters at his Miami resort @maggieNYT @nytmike scoop https://t.co/PdXLkcSYLO
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) October 14, 2019
Cindy McCain tweeted her disgust, saying such productions “violate every norm our society expects from its leaders … ” Her late husband, Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, was depicted in the video being shot and killed by the fake Trump.
Reports describing a violent video played at a Trump Campaign event in which images of reporters & @JohnMcCain are being slain by Pres Trump violate every norm our society expects from its leaders& the institutions that bare their names. I stand w/ @whca in registering my outrage
— Cindy McCain (@cindymccain) October 14, 2019
The Times reports that one individual at the Florida conference privately recorded the video on an iPhone, and had a third-party send the clip to a reporter at the paper.
Scene from a video that shows a fake President Donald Trump staging a mass shooting at “The Church of Fake News,” screenshot taken Oct. 14, 2019. Twitter screenshot.
A spokesman for the American Priority event speaking to The Times, reportedly acknowledged that the video had been shown to conference attendees.
“Content was submitted by third parties and was not associated with or endorsed by the conference in any official capacity,” Alex Phillips told the Times. “American Priority rejects all political violence and aims to promote a healthy dialogue about the preservation of free speech. This matter is under review.” (RELATED: ‘They Knew I Was Kidding: Trump Responds To ‘Fake News’ Over ‘Chosen One’ Jest)
A Twitter user shared some imagery of the room where the video was shown: it was not a large auditorium.
Here’s the room that video played in, for context https://t.co/bkm5ge3Xio
— CJ Ciaramella (@cjciaramella) October 14, 2019
The White House Correspondent’s Association has issued a statement condemning the video — regardless of its origin or use.
“All Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed toward journalists and the president’s political opponents,” Jonathan Karl said.
“We have previously told the president his rhetoric could incite violence. Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society,” Karl added.