Donald Trump is embracing perhaps Hollywood's most memorable drill sergeant to portray his vision of a hardened military and mock the Biden administration's embrace of the LGBTQ community serving openly.
Trump's recent rallies have featured a video with clips of R. Lee Ermey as Marine Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 classic Vietnam War film "Full Metal Jacket." Ermey's character was known for his vulgar and at times racist outbursts as he taunts and bullies recruits.
Those clips, captioned "THEN," are juxtaposed against clips of people expressing support for LGBTQ rights and drag performers, captioned "NOW" and "THE BIDEN HARRIS MILITARY."
The video ends with a shot from the movie, a scene before the recruits were sent to Vietnam, captioned with "LET'S MAKE OUR MILITARY GREAT AGAIN." The video was shown at several Trump rallies before he posted it on social media on Saturday.
Trump often rails against the growing acceptance of transgender people, including the use of pronouns and transgender women in women's sports, drawing some of the biggest applause lines at his rallies by pledging to restrict them.
