#TrumpMugShot trended on X on Thursday as people waited for the official mug shot of Donald Trump to be released from his booking at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump has been indicted three times previously this year, but this is the first time he was forced to pose for a mug shot.
One entrepreneur had already starting hawking T-shirts on Etsy with the photo of Trump glaring into the camera. But those either sold out quickly or the sale was taken down, as the link to the page showed it as unavailable Thursday night.
The e-commerce site also offered mugs with the mug shot among dozens of other pro- and con-Trump merchandise for sale.
The former president’s expression was compared to doll-torturing villain Sid in “Toy Story,” while another person quipped, “He Maaaaaaadddd Mad!!!”
Katie Page of Indiana, no doubt referring to Trump’s orange-y makeup, tweeted. “POV When Willy Wonka just kicked you out of the chocolate factory.”
Another X user made a rough drawing of the already iconic photo.
When the real photo (as confirmed by CNN) was finally released, many doubted that it was the genuine article, “There have been so many fake mugshots of Trump I am unsure…is this it?,” tweeted @_iamblakely at 4:55 pm PDT.
Sure enough, one of the images that circulated showing a glowering Trump was an older photo that had been photoshopped. Trump was earlier photographed wearing a solid red tie as he landed at the Georgia airport, while the doctored image showed him in a red, white and blue striped tie.
One Trump supporter thought the official mug shot made the 77-year-old look “tough and young and angry” while another user compared his eyes to a video-game character.
So many people flooded the Fulton County Jail’s website trying to see the mugshot — and make sure it wasn’t a fake this time — that their website actually crashed.
Images shared before the official photo was released included Trump photoshopped as Ryan Gosling’s Ken from “Barbie” and as a medieval knight with bowed head (or, possibly), Ned Stark from “Game of Thrones,” who was famously beheaded for opposing the cruel King Joffrey.
