President Donald Trump is now a permanent fixture at Walt Disney World — or the animatronic version of the president that is.
On Monday, the Orlando, Florida, theme park debuted what was meant to be a life-like robot of the 45th president to mark the reopening its famed Hall of Presidents exhibit, which tells the story of the United States and those who have governed it. Trump – dressed in his signature unbuttoned suit jacket and extra long tie – was placed next to a seated Abraham Lincoln near the center of the stage.
And similar to his 43 predecessors, Trump also speaks.
“Above all, to be American is to be an optimist — to believe that we can always do better — and that the best days of our great nation are still ahead of us,” says Trump, in part, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s a privilege to serve as the President of the United States, to stand here among so many great leaders of our past, and to work on behalf of the American people.”
Following the announcement that Trump was added to the historic Hall of Presidents production, social media had an absolute field day with his animatronic’s facial appearance and speech.
Some even pointed out a resemblance to Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight.
While others dubbed over Trump’s Disney audio with his infamous Access Hollywood tape.
And many noted the other presidents’ “reactions” to Trump joining them on stage.
The Hall of Presidents, located in the Liberty Square area of the Magic Kingdom, closed on Jan. 17, three days before Trump’s inauguration. The attraction was scheduled to reopen in late June, in time for the Fourth of July, but Disney was forced to push back the updated version due to Trump not recording the script dialogue for his robot.
Weeks before his inauguration, rumors of silencing the robotic version of Trump circulated in part due to a Change.org petition signed by over 15,000 people who demanded that Disney break with precedent. The overall argument to muzzle Trump was because of his history of making “degrading, insulting and demeaning” comments throughout the election about “misogyny, racism and xenophobia.”
