Trump Tweets Doctored Photo of Himself With Rocky Balboa’s Body

By Lorraine Wheat

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – With a little Photoshop, anyone can have the Eye of the Tiger — or the shirtless body.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump had the internet scratching its collective head when he tweeted an image of his face superimposed on top of the fictional Rocky Balboa’s body. While the doctored image had no caption, it does come on the 34th anniversary of “Rocky IV,” which ESPN noted in a tweet shortly before Trump sent out the image.

The Rocky-inspired tweet was released while the commander-in-chief was reportedly playing golf at his Florida Club in Mar-a-Lago.

Naturally, Twitter had a field day. Comedian Josh Comers tweeted, “Sorry, but Rocky beat the Russian,” alluding to the allegations of collusion between Trump and the Russian government.

Comers wasn’t the only one to make the political connection. Author and pundit Molly Jong-Fast tweeted, “I do not think this is an accurate portrayal,” and Media Matters for America editor-at-large Parker Molloy mocked Trump’s tweet by transforming the image into a clip of the president licking his lips in satisfaction.

There’s reason to believe that the man behind Rocky, Sylvester Stallone, might find the tweet funny, at least. In a 2016 interview for a Variety cover , Stallone said of Trump, “He’s a great Dickensian character. You know what I mean? There are certain people like Arnold, Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life. But I don’t know how that translates to running the world.” (It’s worth noting, however, that Stallone later told Variety he didn’t vote for Trump — or anyone — in the 2016 presidential election.)