# Donald Trump and Hannibal Lecter. What's up with this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** movies, trump\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762 "2024-07-25T04:10:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/21 "2024-07-25T12:20:30Z")
In the past couple of years I’ve seen more of James Austin Johnson doing Trump (on SNL) than of Trump doing Trump, but I can totally imagine him confusedly stream-of-consciously rambling about this. By the way, folks: it’s Lect **e** r, not Lect **o** r. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/22 "2024-07-25T12:34:14Z")
It was Lecktor in Manhunter. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/23 "2024-07-25T12:40:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Uh, I feel like if Joe Biden had gone on about Hannibal Lector, we would have been talking full-blown resignation, not just stepping down from re-election. Man, is this a great point. The NY Times would run with it non-stop. > [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > It was Lecktor in Manhunter. It’s Lector on the SDMB now. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/24 "2024-07-25T14:04:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > By the way, folks: it’s Lect **e** r, not Lect **o** r. Thank you for the Hannibal lecture. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/25 "2024-07-25T14:40:34Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > Also, the ‘late’ Hannibal Lecter did not die in any book, movie, or television show in which he was a character, and all the actors who played him are still alive. [Gaspard Ulliel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_Ulliel) is deceased. > **Gaspard Thomas Ulliel** (French pronunciation: [[ɡaspaʁ tɔmɑ yljɛl]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French); 25 November 1984 – 19 January 2022) was a French actor.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_Ulliel#cite_note-birthanddeathcertificate-2)[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_Ulliel#cite_note-3) He was known for having portrayed the young [Hannibal Lecter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter) in _[Hannibal Rising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Rising_(film))_ (2007), [snip] ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/26 "2024-07-25T14:50:42Z")
OK, one mystery solved. When he says, “The late, great Hannibal Lecter,” he means Gaspard Ulliel. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/27 "2024-07-25T14:53:53Z")
Back in ancient times, at Delphi, there were poor young women who were forced to breathe in toxic volcanic fumes, which resulted in them babbling gibberish. Priests would then listen to that gibberish, and “interpret” it for the benefit of questioners who gave hefty donations, in a way that was still usually devoid of actual meaning, but which at least sounded pretty. Replace the oracles with Trump, and the priests with Fox News talking heads, and it’s the same situation today. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/28 "2024-07-25T15:18:46Z")
Looks like generally the answer is: 🤷‍♂️ 🤪 It is weird because if he was saying the people seeking asylum here are like mental asylum people like Hannibal Lecter, why praise Lecter? I also assume when he points at the crowd and says, “He’d like to have _you_ for dinner”, they laugh and he thinks his joke landed and his jokes don’t really land because, and I’m not picking on him, he does not appear to understand laughter and humor in general. If you watch him motorboard Rudy Giuliani, you can see how unfunny he is while doing funny bits. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/29 "2024-07-25T15:23:41Z")
One thing that I wonder about is that, given the people TFG hangs out, with he has heard a lot of positive comments on [Fred Leuchter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_A._Leuchter). You know, self-proclaimed execution equipment “engineer” and Holocaust denier. In Trump’s mind some of this praise got mixed with Hannibal Lecter and verbal diarrhea ensues. It could even be surmised that this is intended to be a code word to alert his Neo-Nazi supporters that he’s on their side. But he is neither smart enough to think of this nor needs to use code words. OTOH Leuchter is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/30 "2024-07-25T15:31:24Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > He was known for having portrayed the young [Hannibal Lecter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Lecter) in _[Hannibal Rising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Rising_(film))_ (2007), [snip] I’ll admit, I have never even heard of this film, despite being a Thomas Harris fan (I read and very much enjoyed both _Silence of the Lambs_ and _Red Dragon_ before seeing any films based on either one). It pretty much bombed in the theaters, that might be why I was unaware of it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/31 "2024-07-25T15:32:47Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I’ll admit, I have never even heard of this film, despite being a Thomas Harris fan (I read and very much enjoyed both _Silence of the Lambs_ and _Red Dragon_ before seeing any films based on either one). It pretty much bombed in the theaters, that might be why I was unaware of it It felt like a cash-in attempt. I have no idea the quality of the movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/32 "2024-07-25T15:35:09Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > When he says, “The late, great Hannibal Lecter,” he means Gaspard Ulliel. I doubt Trump and most of MAGA even know who Gaspard Ulliel was. Plus, he was French–sounds like a socialist to me. However, I’m reminded of the end of _[Hannibal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_(2001_film))_: \> She [Clarice Starling] watches in horror as Lecter opens Krendler’s [skull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull), removes part of his [brain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain), [sautés](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saut%C3%A9ing) it, and feeds Krendler’s own brain to him. Maybe Trump has had dinner with Lecter? And Trump’s bad hair is covering something up. > [@Atamasama](#): > > It pretty much bombed in the theaters, that might be why I was unaware of it. It was the Hannibal movie no one needed. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/33 "2024-07-25T15:37:59Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I doubt Trump and most of MAGA even know who Gaspard Ulliel was. Plus, he was French–sounds like a socialist to me. I’m sorry, but Gaspard Ulliel is the only person it could be and be logically consistent, and it is plainly ridiculous to suggest that Trump is anything other than logically consistent. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/34 "2024-07-25T15:45:11Z")
trump has a long history of saying something crazy or outrageous, then when the media reaction is ‘WTF?!?’, instead of backing off, he doubles down, hard. Triples down, even. Check out this recent rally clip that Smapti posted in the ‘Is Trump Confused?’ thread. trump not only brings up the ‘late, great Hannibal Lector’ bit again, he even acknowledges that people are saying he must be ‘cognitively in trouble’ for saying it. To his supporters, this is trump sticking it to the crazy woke far-left libs, and they eat it up with big ol’ serving spoons: > [@Is Trump confused?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1158): > > “They say when he talks about Hannibal Lecter he must be in cognitive trouble. No, these are real stories” “Lyin’ Kamala also a total radical on a word called imbolen, you know this, right? A word called, what? Abortion.” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/35 "2024-07-25T15:50:47Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > You would think someone would have mentioned to him that Hannibal Lector was neither late nor great but he probably refused to listen. It’s simply part of his “greatest hits” collection now. It’s stuck in his brain, and the crowd seems to like it, so it’s on repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/36 "2024-07-25T16:02:28Z")
> [@solost](#): > > trump not only brings up the ‘late, great Hannibal Lector’ bit again, he even acknowledges that people are saying he must be ‘cognitively in trouble’ for saying it. To his supporters, this is trump sticking it to the crazy woke far-left libs, and they eat it up with big ol’ serving spoons: Yeah, I think this is it. In his head, and in his fans’ heads, it’s something that “triggers the libs,” so it’s become one of his standard rally bits. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to get a reaction. (Also, his speaking style is a lot closer to “aging rock star trotting out all the old hits the fans expect to hear” than traditional political oratory, so it makes sense that he’d keep saying it, in more or less the same words, if he feels like it went over well once.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/37 "2024-07-25T16:07:02Z")
Here is a quote and a clip, this time even addressing why we are questioning it and also why we are questioning his cognitive abilities. “They go crazy when I say ‘The late great Hannibal Lecter,’ OK. They say ‘Why would he mention Hannibal Lecter, he must be cognitively in trouble,‘” Trump said. “No, no, no. These are real stories, Hannibal Lecter from ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ he’s a lovely man he wants to have you for dinner he’d like to have you for dinner.” > **[Trump Responds To Claims He's 'Cognitively Challenged' In Bafflingly Weird Way](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-cognitively-challenged_n_66a1b329e4b0ac6125bd24da)** > > The former president brought it up twice during a rally in North Carolina. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/38 "2024-07-25T16:13:59Z")
Lecter is a badass. MAGAts think Trump’s a badass. That’s as deeply as anyone needs to analyze this. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/39 "2024-07-25T16:28:23Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > MAGAts think Trump’s a badass. I agree. He’s bad, and he’s an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762/40 "2024-07-25T16:41:41Z")
> [@Mads Mikkelsen](#): > > _I think he’s a fresh wind for some people_, Based on reports from the NYC courthouse - some people have a pretty odd idea of “fresh”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-and-hannibal-lecter-whats-up-with-this/1004762.md?page=3)