Donald Trump.Photo: Mike Roemer/AP/REX/Shutterstock
PresidentDonald Trump, habitual Twitter-er, found himself this week in a common predicament for some of the platform’s most avid users: facing down a copyright flag.
On Tuesday the president tweeted a re-election campaign video celebrating himself that he (or more likely his team) apparently first came across on Reddit.
The since-blocked video, accordingto BuzzFeedandVariety, included the text “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they call you racist. Donald J. Trump. Your vote. Proved them all wrong. Trump: The Great Victory. 2020.” Alongside it was footage of Democrats against Trump in action.
Accompanying the video was part of the score forThe Dark Knight Rises.
The problem? Warner Bros., the film’s studio, never gave permission for such usage and swiftly took action.
“The use of Warner Bros.’ score fromThe Dark Knight Risesin the campaign video was unauthorized,” a spokesperson said, according to BuzzFeed and Variety. “We are working through the appropriate legal channels to have it removed.”
The video’s text was also stylized in the same font as the Batman film, Variety reports.
“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trumptweetedwith the video, which reportedly racked up a few million views before being taken down. Detractors pounced.
“Holy propaganda, Batman!” onerepliedto him.
Anotherwrote, “Whose job is it to make these poorly-edited propaganda videos that make Donald clap his little doll hands in giddy … delight?”
Donald Trump/Twitter
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While it’s not officially clear, such a connection between Reddit and what the president tweets would not be surprising —or the first timehe has shared or referenced material that previously appeared there.(The Atlanticexplored the relationshiptwo years ago.)
Last week, surreally, the president mocked former Vice PresidentJoe Biden, who multiple women have said made them uncomfortable with his behavior. The president’smode of trollingwas a crudely made video that had already been shared around Twitter, Reddit and elsewhere,according to theNew York Times.
The man behind that video, speaking only under his username, explained to theTimeshow he believes he got it to the president’s attention via White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino:
“Dan Scavino follows me on Twitter, but there’s no formal relationship there between me and the president. If there’s something I want to make sure [Scavino] sees, I’ll wait for him to post a tweet and try to be the first to reply, linking to what I want to show.”
The White House did not respond to PEOPLE’s questions about the president’s tweet.
source: people.com
