Why is Donald Trump Obsessed With ‘The Late, Great Hannibal Lecter?’

Serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter is not real. He is also, in the canon of novels, films and TV shows featuring him, very much alive.

Former President Donald Trump didn’t let those pesky facts get in the way of some remarks he made at the Republican National Convention last week during his rambling nominee acceptance speech.

‘The late, great Hannibal Lecter’

Trump brought up Lecter, and specifically his appearance in 1991’s Silence of the Lambs, while talking about immigration at the RNC. Trump claimed, falsely, that violence in Latin American countries and countries across the globe has declined because other countries are shipping their criminals from their mental institutions to America.

“They’re coming from prisons, they’re coming from jails, they’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums,” he said. “The press is always on me because say this…has anyone seen ‘Silence of the Lambs’? The late, great, Hannibal Lecter…he’d love to have you for dinner…that’s insane asylums, they’re emptying out their insane asylums, and terrorists are coming in at numbers that we’ve never seen before.”

This is not the first time Trump has referenced Jonathan Demme’s Best Picture-winning film. He brought up “the late, great Hannibal Lecter” in May at a rally in New Jersey, again drawing a comparison from immigrants to insane cannibals. The former president has also referred to the fictional cannibal serial killer as “legendary,” “a wonderful man” and “a nice guy.”

In Iowa last year, Trump praised Lecter before quickly saying he meant the actor who portrayed him, claiming that actor said on television “I love Donald Trump.”

None of the four actors who have played Lector have said they “loved” Trump, at least not publicly. And, again, three of the four actors that portrayed Lecter on film and TV—Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins and Mads Mikkelsen—are also still alive. (Hannibal Rising’s Gaspard Ulliel died in 2022.)

Hopkins, for his part, said he is “shocked and appalled” by the comparisons Trump is making referencing his character, and seemed bewildered as to why Trump was speaking about Lecter as if he were real.

Insane asylums

Some have speculated that Trump is associating the phrase “seeking asylum” when referring to immigration with “insane asylums.”

“Omg I think this is the missing link. When he hears the word ‘asylum’ in connection with migrants he thinks it means insane asylums, not refuge from persecution. Hence Hannibal Lecter, etc. Omg,” former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa tweeted.

It’s also just as likely that Trump, he of “You’re fired!”, “nasty woman” and “Lock her up!” fame, heard the “having an old friend for dinner” joke and latched onto it. The man loves an easily repeatable phrase.

Lecter is also larger-than-life, cunning, manipulative, and powerful — exactly the type of villain Trump would remember, based on what we know about his pop culture proclivities. He once reportedly fast-forwarded through Bloodsport to eliminate all the plot exposition and highlight just the fights. I wonder if Trump watched Silence of the Lambs in the same way.