Sorry Donald Trump, You Will Never Be Bill Pullman in Independence Day
Leave our favorite fictional president alone!
Yesterday, instead of doing literally anything to fight the pandemic, Donald Trump retweeted an altered video where his big orange head is superimposed on Bill Pullman’s body during his rousing speech at the end of the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day. As Trump/Pullman delivers his speech, the video inserts various Trump family members, Ted Cruz, Sean Hannity, and Tucker Carlson into the adoring crowd.
It’s yet another self-aggrandizing moment for the self described war time president, who is too busy bragging about his pandemic response in lieu of actually responding to the crisis. And as anyone who has been paying attention to the news knows, that response has been dismal, deadly, and utterly incompetent. The deeply stupid video has since been retweeted nearly 76,000 times with over 240,000 likes.
But the stars of Independence Day are less than amused by Trump’s ridiculous post. Bill Pullman, who played President Whitmore in the film, released a statement saying “My voice belongs to no one but me, and I’m not running for president — this year.” His co-star Vivica A. Fox tweeted the following:
PRETENDING U KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING?? CANT BELIEVE U WOULD INSULT OUR CLASSIC FILM THIS WAY! BUT HEY! TYPICAL POS BEHAVIOR! U NEVER HAD THE LEADERSHIP OR COURAGE TO DO THIS ROLE! NEVER! 😡👎🏾👎🏾 https://t.co/OBjdRftYSx
— Vivica A. Fox (@MsVivicaFox) May 17, 2020
Many fans of the film took to Twitter to roast Trump for being nothing like Pullman’s fictional president:
Bill Pullman in INDEPENDENCE DAY got his butt in a jet and actually fought the aliens. We can't even get Trump to wear a mask or not say something stupid for a day. Please do not disrespect the memory of Bill Pullman's character, MAGA.
— Wajahat "Social Distance Yourself" Ali (@WajahatAli) May 16, 2020
Remember the part in Independence Day when President Bill Pullman dodged the draft, insulted veterans, and hid in the White House while suggesting that Americans inject bleach and face a deadly threat without protection?
Nah, me neither.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) May 16, 2020
In the past 24 hours, Trump has…
– Said "Super Duper Missile"
– Named a "plan" "Operation Warp Speed"
– Placed his head on Bill Pullman's body in a clip from "Independence Day"It's official. We're living in "Spaceballs." Up next? Trump will owe Pizza the Hut $1M space bucks.
— Craig Rozniecki (@CraigRozniecki) May 16, 2020
Never forget that in Independence Day people threw a rooftop party welcoming the aliens even though everyone warned them to stay inside and take cover because the aliens would kill them and then the aliens killed them and that is basically the definition of MAGA.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) May 17, 2020
today is a dark day for fans of the hit 1996 film, Independence Day
— Lindsay Ellis (@thelindsayellis) May 17, 2020
Today the former president inspired the class of 2020 & the current president tweeted a pirated video of Independence Day with his head poorly photoshopped onto Bill Pullman's head. That happened. That's a fact. That's THE SETUP. That's why there are currently no good punchlines.
— Mike Birbiglia (@birbigs) May 17, 2020
Except in Independence Day Pres. Whitmore mobilized, then led the world to vanquish a common threat. He fought on the front lines – he didn't deny the threat existed, fail to act, then say "it's a beautiful thing to see" as his soldiers died because of a lack of proper equipment. https://t.co/YUnG1gptuY
— Phil Arballo (@PhilArballo2020) May 16, 2020
the movie Independence Day has aged terribly. like the White House blows up and we’re supposed to be sad lol
— Dan Gurewitch (@DanGurewitch) May 13, 2020
I just looked to see why Bill Pullman is trending and now I'm loading myself into a cannon and waiting for someone to shoot me directly into the sun.
— Imani Gandy ☄️🌏🔥 (@AngryBlackLady) May 17, 2020
Donald Trump, you wish you were Bill Pullman in Independence Day. You’re not even Bill Pullman in Malice and that movie is rough. Meanwhile, what we wouldn’t give to have IRL Bill Pullman as president, am I right?
(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: 20th Century Fox)
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