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George Lopez sure knows how to generate some controversy. Less than a week into 2020, the comedian sparked outrage with comments on social media about an $80 million bounty placed on Donald Trump which was referenced on an Iranian state-owned television broadcast of the funeral for top military general Qassem Soleimani.
While the Iranian government has not actually placed a bounty on Trump’s head, there have been misleading posts circulating online about the $80 million figure and plenty of people have been chiming in.
Lopez was among those who decided to make a quip about the situation and it has not gone over well.
“We are 80 million Iranians. If each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will reward anyone who brings us [Trump]’s head with that amount,” the voice on the broadcast said.
Then, Lopez chimed in with the ill-advised comment: “We’ll do it for half.”
Almost immediately, #ArrestGeorgeLopez began to trend on Twitter and some of Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters and political pundits began sounding off on the comedian’s remark.
Florida Republican Anna Paulina, who is running for Congress in the state’s 13th District, wrote, “For those saying that @georgelopez was only “joking” about assassinating @realDonaldTrump, Do you actually believe this type of joke would have been okay in reference to either @BarackObama or @MichelleObama? Didn’t think so.”
Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk was also upset with the remarks.
Terrence K. Williams, another comedian and political commentator was also among the Trump supporters to sound off on Lopez saying, “We have a duty to report any threats or violence against the President, his family or anyone in his administration.”
Since the targeted strike that killed Soleimani near the Baghdad Airport in Iraq, there have been varying opinions on whether it was the right move to launch the attack. However, most people on Twitter have been cracking jokes about the situation with the viral World War III memes, but joking about killing the President of the United States is undoubtedly a step too far.
Let’s all reel things back in a bit, folks.
