Misdirection is a powerful tool for magicians and, apparently, for presidents seeking to avert a national crisis.
Photo illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images/MGM
President Donald Trump went online Saturday night to get angry at his longtime foe Gavin Newsom, while continuing to ignore the growing travel crisis.
As airports across the country grappled with the aftermath of the worst aviation disruption since 9/11, Trump, 80, stayed out of the public eye, instead posting about his pet projects.
In an article in Truth Social, the president attacked outgoing California Governor Gavin Newsom, 57, for commuting the death sentences of the state’s 548 prisoners on death row.
“Some of the people Gavin Newscum freed from the death penalty, after many years in the California ‘justice’ system, make Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs a nice guy! President DJT,” Trump wrote.
Donald Trump attacks an old enemy.
Social truth/Donald Trump
The message came nine days after Newsom announced his decision to commute the sentences of California’s death row inmates, and after the California governor once again launched a series of jabs at Trump and his administration over X.
While Trump claimed Newsom “freed” inmates “from the death penalty,” the commutations did not result in anyone being released from prison. Instead, their death sentences were commuted to life without parole.
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Trump has not made a public appearance since Wednesday. His last on-camera appearance was Thursday, when he sat down for a private interview with sports commentator Stephen A. Smith at the White House. The president has remained out of sight since the Federal Aviation Administration made a nationwide stop just before 4 p.m. Friday. As of Saturday evening, he had not yet publicly addressed the aviation crisis.
Newsom ridiculed Trump and Duffy for their response to the US flight chaos.
Trump’s message about Newsom also included his childish nickname for the governor, “Newscum,” just a week after the 80-year-old president said 60 minutes correspondent Ross Douthat that he could “very easily” resist the urge to denounce Democrats for at least six months in order to work together.
Trump’s decision to invoke the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter is reminiscent of his 2024 presidential campaign, where he spoke so often about the character made famous by Anthony Hopkins that he became the subject of controversy. Saturday evening live cold opened.
James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump and Michael Longfellow as Hannibal Lecter in the “Summer of Trump” cold open on May 18, 2024.
Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump repeatedly invoked the “late, great Hannibal Lecter” during rambling speeches on immigration.
“They come from prisons, prisons and prisons, you know, there’s a slight difference… mental institutions and insane asylums like The silence of the lamb (sic), the press always says: “Why is he talking The silence of the lamb?’ Silence of the Lamb, the late Hannibal Lecter would like to invite you to dinner. Don’t do it,” Trump said in June 2024 during a campaign stop in Virginia.
It’s unclear whether the president believes Hannibal Lecter was real.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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