Un-silence of the lambs: Donald Trump (again) praises fictional ...

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Thousands attend Donald Trump's rally on the Wildwood beach

Thousands attend Donald Trump's rally on the Wildwood beach on Saturday, May 11, 2025.

WASHINGTON - Former President Donald Trump replayed an odd campaign-and-movie riff over the weekend: Praise for a fictional cannibal and murderer, one of the most evil characters in the history of cinema.

Hannibal Lecter.

"The late, great Hannibal Lecter," Trump said during a rally Saturday in Wildwood, N..J., citing the psycho protagonist of the novel and Oscar-winning film "The Silence of the Lambs" while discussing immigration policy.

Trump praised Lecter - portrayed by Oscar-winning Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film - while attacking migrants who are in the United States illegally.

"Has anyone ever seen ‘The Silence of the Lambs’?" Trump told a crowd of supporters. "The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’s a wonderful man."

Trump, who did speak in mocking tones and did not appear to be serious, then made reference to the film's famous final scene in which Lecter follows his next victim down a crowded street.

"I'm having an old friend for dinner," Lecter's character had just said in a phone call with newly minted FBI agent Clarice Starling (portrayed by Jodie Foster in another Oscar-winning performance).

At his New Jersey rally, Trump said: “He often times would have a friend for dinner. Remember the last scene? ‘Excuse me, I’m about to have a friend for dinner,’ as this poor doctor walked by. ‘I’m about to have a friend for dinner.’"

Trump closed his tribute by saying: "But Hannibal Lecter. Congratulations. The late, great Hannibal Lecter.”

It was unclear whether Trump was saying the United States should act like Hannibal Lecter, or whether he was comparing some migrants to the crazed serial killer.

Trump has praised Lecter and The Silence of the Lambs in years past, calling the latter one of his favorite movies.

The former president has invoked Lecter while echoing his highly exaggerated claims that prisoners and mental patients are pouring across the U.S. border. "That's 'Silence Of The Lambs;' that's Hannibal Lecter," Trump said during the New Hampshire primary campaign.  "Did you ever hear of Hannibal Lecter? They're being dropped into our country. Hannibal Lecter is coming in."

During a 2023 event in Iowa, Trump confused the character with Hopkins by saying, "Hannibal Lecter, how great an actor was he?” The former president also mistakenly quoted the actor as saying he loved Trump, though there is no record of such a comment ever being made.

Trump's Saturday tribute in New Jersey to a movie character killer drew criticism from his opponents.

On the social media site X, foreign policy author Anne Applebaum wrote: "At what other moment in American history could a presidential candidate praise a fictional serial killer, and inspire almost no reaction at all?"