Donald Trump apparently channeled one of the great villains of all comic book literature in his inaugural speech on Friday:
The moment when Donald Trump quoted from Batman villain Bane. pic.twitter.com/Zp1vWAPtAP
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) January 20, 2017
Trump’s full quote was:
Today’s ceremony has very special meaning because today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or one party to another but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people. For too long a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished but the people did not share in its wealth.
The similarity between the two speeches is striking; Bane, the iconic villain of the classic The Dark Knight Rises played by actor Tom Hardy, states, “We take Gotham from the corrupt! The rich! The oppressors of generations who have kept you down with their myths of opportunity and we give it back to you. The people.”
On the other hand, Bane proceeded to free inmates from jail, which is much more similar to Barack Obama, who granted clemency to more inmates during his tenure than any president in the last 60 years.