'Red Flags Left and Right!': Donald Trump Mocked for Doubling Down on Hannibal Lecter Comments at Florida Rally

Former President Donald Trump was ridiculed for bringing up Hannibal Lector, the fictional serial killer from the Silence of the Lambs franchise, during his campaign rally held at his Florida golf course on Tuesday, July 9.

Trump complained that his Lecter rants have been characterized as "rambling."

"Did anyone ever see the movie Silence of the Lambs? Did you ever hear of Hannibal Lecter, who’s a lovely man?" He asked the crowd. "He would love to have you for dinner. He will take you. Many people forget it. Well, yeah, we have a lot of people coming in. They always say, 'Oh, that’s terrible for Trump to say! He is rambling about Hannibal Lecter!' No I’m not rambling!"

He tried his best to link his comments to immigration and the ongoing mental health crisis in the U.S., telling the crowd, "We are allowing people from safe asylums and mental institutions into our country by the tens of thousands, and they’re closing down the country."

The ex-prez's comments were shared on social media, where several Trump critics took jabs at him for confusingly praising a fictional cannibalistic serial killer on the campaign trail.

One user shared a clip of the former president's speech on X, formerly known as Twitter, in a post that read, "Red flags left and right! We have the Republican candidate for president fawning over one of the biggest villains in cinematic history... I'm sure it's fine."

Another commented, "Trump just sees a lot of himself in Lector. I'm sure he'd love to have his political rival's liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

A third user joked, "Technically, Lector is originally a literary character, but I don't think anyone is going to suggest that Trump has ever picked up a book, let alone Red Dragon."

When Trump first brought the fictional character up during one of his non-sensical rants, he claimed that the gourmet cannibal said that he “loves" the former president.

"Has anybody seen Silence of the Lambs? Hannibal Lecter," he told a crowd of his supporters. "You know why I like him? Because he said on television on an — one of the — 'I love Donald Trump!' So I love him! I love him!"

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People were shocked by Trump’s comments, with one X user penning, "Imagine if Joe Biden said Hannibal Lecter is a wonderful man? The media continues to normalize Donald Trump, who is insane."