President Donald Trump is being slammed for his supporters campaigning with an intended “Kingsman” spoof that depicts a doctored version of the president massacring a church of Black and white political opponents and organizations, including Black Lives Matter.
The video, which includes the logo for Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign, was shown at a conference for his supporters last week at Trump’s Doral National resort in Miami, The New York Times reported Sunday.
In the footage, a man with Trump’s face superimposed on him was shown punching a similarly doctored portrayal of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters several time. Moments later, a man with the word “JAIL” superimposed on his back threw her through a window.
In another clip, the presidential poser grabbed and punched a man with the face of former president Barack Obama.
The video appeared to be a doctored version of a scene from the 2014 movie, “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” in which the villain portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson triggered a massacre inside a church in Kentucky.
The clip began in what was dubbed the “Church of Fake News,” and featured Trump in a pin-striped suit and tie shooting, stabbing and otherwise killing parishioners.
Many of Trump’s victims in the footage were parishioners whose faces were replaced with the logos of media organizations, including PBS, NBC, NPR, Politico and The Washington Post.
Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, told The New York Times he knew nothing about the video.
“That video was not produced by the campaign, and we do not condone violence,” he said.
The American Priority Conference, a pro-Trump, far-right gathering that masquerades as a First Amendment advocacy event, confirmed in a statement Monday that the video was shown in a side room at its three-day conference.
“The video was not approved, seen, or sanctioned by the #AMPFest19,” the organization said in the statement. “The organizers of #AMPFest19 were not even aware of the video until they were contacted by the NYT.”
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who was shown slain in the video, tweeted about the footage Sunday.
“Im 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. No, this video isn’t a joke to his followers. And it will not be,” she said in the tweet.
Griffin was all but blacklisted when she posed with a fake decapitated head of Trump in 2017 in the name of comedic expression of disapproval of the president.
Related: D.L. Hughley Questions Outrage for Kathy Griffin When Ted Nugent Took Aim at Obama
Trump had this to say on Twitter about the comedian May 31, 2017: “Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!”
Many are describing conservatives’ muted response to the violent messaging of the pro-Trump spoof as hypocritical, and others are condemning it as dangerous for portrayals of violence toward notable public figures from Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders to TV personality Rosie O’Donnell.
The video even includes late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
The White House Correspondents Association told The Guardian newspaper it was “horrified” by the clip.
“All Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed towards journalists and his political opponents,” it said. “We have previously told the president his rhetoric could incite violence.
“Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society.”
Still, some took to Twitter to defend Trump.
Black Trump supporters and vloggers Lynnette Diamond Hardaway and Rochelle Silk Richardson denounced the video but also defended the president on Twitter @DiamondandSilk Monday.
“Just like we denounce Kathy Griffin for the severed head photo and Snoop Dogg for depicting himself shooting the POTUS in a video, we equally denounce and condemn this shooting video,” the women said.
“Tying this video to Trump when he did not make it or create it is wrong!”
