A two year old meme video of the church massacre scene from Kingsman: The Secret Service has gone viral after it was reportedly shown at a pro-Trump conference.
The old meme that was created by The GeekzTeam kickstarted a media firestorm after the New York Times reported the video was shown at a Trump National Doral Miami during a three-day conference hosted by American Priority that was attended by Donald Trump Jr., Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
As you can see below, the video, in meme fashion, shows Donald Trump’s head superimposed over Colin Firth’s Galahad. Trump as Galahad begins killing the members of the church, who have a number of media labels like the New York Times, CNN, and NPR superimposed over their heads. There are also a number of Democratic opponents, Republican critics, as well as entertainment figures.
Media figures would condemn the video. The White House Correspondents Association issued a statment that they “horrified by a video reportedly shown over the weekend at a political conference organized by the President’s supporters at the Trump National Doral in Miami.”
They added, “All Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed toward journalists and the President’s political opponents.”
Their statement continued, “We have previously told the President his rhetoric could incite violence. Nowe call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society.”
WHCA Statement on video depicting President Trump murdering journalists. pic.twitter.com/52lHFaQjU2
— WHCA (@whca) October 14, 2019
John McCain’s late wife Cindy McCain decried the video writing, “Reports describing a violent video played at a Trump Campaign event in which images of reporters & John McCain are being slain by Pres Trump violate every norm our society expects from its leaders & the institutions that bare their names. I stand with the White House Correspondents Association in registering my outrage.”
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
John McCain’s daughter Megan McCain also weighed in.
8. @MeghanMcCain on the video:
“You conservatives on Twitter, if this was the opposite and it happened at an Obama event, you’d be screaming bloody murder.” pic.twitter.com/roDXGB9Kxb
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 14, 2019
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who infamously did a photo shoot with Trump’s decapitated head, weighed in on the video, writing on Facebook, “I’m depicted as being murdered by The President of the United States in this video.The left, right & center left me hanging out to dry regarding the Trump mask photo. Please don’t let it happen again.”
She added, “No, this video isn’t a joke to his followers. And it will not be taken as such.”
The White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham took to Twitter and noted the President condemned the video.
Grisham wrote, “President Donald Trump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video.”
Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video.
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) October 14, 2019
Others would express their outrage with the 2 year old meme video.
I want Matt Vaughn, 20th Century Fox & if possible Colin Firth to publicly disown the use and abuse of the KINGSMAN massacre scene by a pro Trump PAC edited to show him murdering journalists, media outlets, politicians and celebrities. This is a fascist’s wet dream.
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) October 14, 2019
Above all else, the Kingsman parody showing Trump massacring news outlet logos, anti-Trump celebrities, and rival politicians is PATHETIC. Or, to use a shorter word that’s one of his favorites: SAD!
Seriously: the video, like Trump, is a sad f*cking joke.
[SHORT THREAD] pic.twitter.com/dfScXG77Rr
— Greg Olear (@gregolear) October 14, 2019
The Trumpist massmurdering video is from The Kingsman. The movie was made by Fox studios. Isn’t this still owned by Murdoch? Of course their not going to stop the video. They parrot these attacks.
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) October 14, 2019
The Kathy Griffin photo is getting compared to the MAGA Kingsman video. There’s one huge difference, though. Griffin supporters don’t go on mass-murdering sprees. Some Trump supporters do.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) October 14, 2019
While a number of people in the media were upset, others mocked them or called them out for hypocrisy.
You stupid humorless assholes are truly hilarious when you are triggered.
It’s a scene from the Kingsman movie, for God’s sakes.
— Nick Searcy, INTERNATIONAL THOUGHT LEADER & STAR (@yesnicksearcy) October 14, 2019
Weird how the (Hollywood liberal-produced) Kingsman scene draws zero concerns when the targets are conservative Christians but when the (parody) targets are liberal memes, suddenly it’s scary and bad.
Weird, right?
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) October 14, 2019
If we’re talking about “violence in videos” here is real violence at a rally in Minneapolis, where real people are physically attacked for their political views. Not edited memes and fictional characters from “Kingsman” https://t.co/rK8t4DCnub
— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) October 14, 2019
I see nothing wrong with the Kingsman meme video. The outrage is so contrived.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 14, 2019
Joey Saladino did a reaction video to the meme to support his run for Congress.
This latest controversy is another chapter in the conflict between President Trump, his supporters, and the press. With many on each side pointing the finger at the other as the cause for mistrust.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is based off the comic books by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The film, released in 2015, earned $414.3 million worldwide based off an estimated $81 million budget.
A spin-off titled The King’s Man from director Matthew Vaughn and starring Ralph Fiennes, Charles Dance, Gemma Arterton, Matthew Goode, Djimon Housou, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is due out in theaters on February 14, 2020.
What do you think of the meme video? Is it really as harmful as The White House Correspondents Association claims to be? Or is it just a simple meme video, one of the thousands coming and going online?