It would not be a stretch to say that for some, the time that Donald Trump has been in office as the president of the United States has felt like a horror movie. Some have taken things harder than others, but apart from any personal “feelings” about the situation, on a very real level life has turned hellish for different people at different times thanks to the activities of the Trump administration. A recent example of such an activity is the across the board separation of families attempting to make it into the U.S. over the southern border without documentation.
Well, the Trump camp, when looking at things one way, seems fine with going for the “horror movie” take on their activities. They are still trying to trademark the phrase “Keep America Great” — both with and without an exclamation point — to use as a 2020 campaign slogan. The phrase, though, was used as a part of the 2016 horror movie called Purge: Election Year, which was actually pointed out last year after Trump first raised the idea of using the phrase.
That correlation does not seem to have made its way to either Trump’s desk or the desk of anyone who cares, however. Speaking just this past June, he told a crowd at a rally:
‘When you look at what we’re doing, it’s very simple. It’s called ‘Keep America Great.’ We’ll get you nice hats. Maybe we’ll make them green this time instead of red. Green, representing cash.’
Trump has often touted the supposed economic utopia that he has inaugurated for the United States, despite the fact that through moves like the rounds of tariffs he has imposed he has made the nation’s future economic security far from certain.
In the meantime, one of the producers behind the Purge horror movies feels as though it’s natural that a phrase from one of his productions has made its way into usage by the Trump camp.
Producer Brad Fuller told HuffPost:
‘It felt kind of natural after we made the movie and then he used that.’
The usage of the phrase was originally meant as a jab at Trump, and in the time since, via the release of the since added one more movie in the series, the production team has gone even farther with their targeting of the president.
For instance, promotional materials for the 2018 film The First Purge include a red hat outfitted with the movie’s title; Trump, of course, rose to prominence while distributing red (and white) hats with his 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
#TheFirstPurge pic.twitter.com/pAPTJLcIBt
— The First Purge (@UniversalHorror) January 30, 2018
Another Purge producer, Andrew Form, explained to HuffPost that it was actually the idea of Universal, the production company behind the movie, to use the red hat in advertising.
He was totally on board with the idea though, saying:
‘It was one of those [instances] where you get the email and take a look at the teaser poster, and you open it up and say please put it in the theaters now, like, let’s go.’
As we wait for 2020 and actual Trump campaign promotional materials to roll around, he will no doubt continue on with the policies that have inspired comparisons to movies centering around the idea of government sponsored nights of violent crime.
Featured Image used according to fair use
