Social media is buzzing about a Donald Trump line from his weekend rally in New Jersey, but some think the odd statement was actually a "veiled threat" to the witnesses in his criminal hush money cover-up case in New York.
Trump on Saturday said during his political speech, "Silence of the Lambs. Has anyone ever seen The Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter is a wonderful man."
"He oftentimes would have a friend for dinner. Remember the last scene? 'Excuse me. I'm about to have a friend for dinner,'" Trump added.
Investigative journalist Victoria Brownworth called the statement "bizarre even by Trump standards."
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But some are taking the comments further.
Legal analyst Marcy Wheeler, of EmptyWheel, suggested the nefarious intent of the otherwise meaningless story about a murderous fictional character.
For what it's worth, Wheeler said, "I suspect Trump's Hannibal [Lecter] comment was intended as a veiled threat to Stormy Daniels."
"But notice how everyone is talking about THAT and not that he elicited a $1B bribe from oil execs?" she added.
She's not the only one to think along those lines.
@Eventaille echoed those similar sentiments.
"Let's think, who would T want silenced, threatened by a Hannibal Lecter type serial atrocity? Witnesses at his ongoing trial? HOW IS THIS NOT WITNESS INTIMIDATION? If I were a witness I would feel my blood chill, hearing this. I do anyway, this is a threat to us all," the account wrote Sunday.
@JobshelbyG also chimed in:
"The reference to Hannibal [Lecter] was mob speak. He was threatening someone to silence them or they will get the Hannibal treatment, out to dinner and ended. Whoever it is they know it. He has talked about this in private and they understand the threat. My 2 cents."
@HillObscuresVu had this to say about the out-of-place quote.
"What if this whole Hannibal rant re 'dinner' was aimed at the Stormy testimony, some of which featured how she had been promised dinner and never had dinner food that night in his room in Tahoe. Was it a way to get around the gag order to issue a convoluted threat?"
@Sharon90275125 said, "I think that reference to Hannibal to having a 'friend for dinner' is a code of threat to Michael Cohen that mob boss will have Cohen/family eaten alive if Michael tells what he knows! Kinda weird but Michael said he spoke in code .. like Pecker was friend."
