The White House forcefully lashed out at actor Mark Hamill on Thursday after the Star Wars star posted an AI-generated photo showing President Donald Trump lying in a coffin.
Hamill's Controversial Post
Hamill, who has frequently taunted Trump, took to BlueSky on Wednesday and shared an image of the president in a coffin, with a tombstone indicating he died in 2024. The caption began with the words, "If Only," before stating that Trump "should live long enough to witness his inevitable devastating loss in the midterms, be held accountable for his unprecedented corruption, impeached, convicted & humiliated for his countless crimes."
He added: "Long enough to realize he'll be disgraced in the history books, forevermore."
White House Response
Since BlueSky is a relatively liberal platform compared with X, most respondents had no issue with Hamill's post. However, the White House's Rapid Response account on X reacted angrily, stating: "@MarkHamill is one sick individual. These Radical Left lunatics just can't help themselves. This kind of rhetoric is exactly what has inspired three assassination attempts in two years against our President."
HuffPost has reached out to Hamill for comment on the White House's response.
Context of Trump's Own Rhetoric
Although wishing death on anyone or cheering their demise is generally considered tasteless and inappropriate, it should be noted that Trump has also engaged in similar behavior repeatedly. In March, Trump responded to the death of former FBI director and special prosecutor Robert Mueller by saying, "Good, I'm glad he's dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!"
In March 2024, the president posted a video on social media showing an image of a hog-tied President Joe Biden printed on the tailgate of a passing truck. Just last month, he threatened the entire nation of Iran with genocide, posting "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."
