President-elect Donald Trump, left, greets actor Sylvester Stallone, right, onstage at the America First Policy Institute Gala in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
Oscar winner Sylvester Stallone invoked both George Washington and Jesus while praising President-elect Donald Trump at a black-tie gala Thursday celebrating the billionaire’s landslide election victory at Mar-a-Lago.
In an emotional speech, Stallone compared his own arduous road to Hollywood success to the near-insurmountable obstacles Trump faced in his trailblazing political career.
“When I made ‘Rocky,’ if you remember, the first image was a picture of Jesus, and it said, ‘Resurrection AC Club,’” Stallone said.
“I found a church that had been converted into a boxing ring. So the image pans down from Jesus onto Rocky being hit. And at that moment, he was the chosen person. And that’s how I began the journey.
“Something was going to happen. This man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives — just like President Trump,” the film icon said to raucous applause.
Stallone was referencing the opening scene of his hit 1976 Oscar-winning film, “Rocky,” in which the main character fights in a boxing ring at an old church.
“We are in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology,” the actor said of Trump.
“And this individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled off what he pulled off. So I’m in awe.”
JUST IN: Sylvester Stallone introduces Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, says Trump is like the “second George Washington.”
“We are in the presence of a really mythical character. I love mythology.”
“This individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could have pulled… pic.twitter.com/3SZn7bOjsM
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 15, 2024
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Stallone then compared Trump to America’s first president, George Washington, who’s widely hailed as the greatest POTUS in U.S. history.
“And I’ll just say this, and I mean it,” Stallone continued, “when George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world. Because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like. Guess what? We got the second George Washington. Congratulations!”
The “Rocky” star then welcomed Trump to the stage, and the two exchanged a warm hug.
There’s a lot of Catholic iconography in “Rocky,” a cinematic tour de force that celebrates the underdog triumphing over enormous odds.
Did something about the movie Rocky give you chills growing up?
The man behind the legendary Rocky music said it was entirely inspired by the Catholic Mass. pic.twitter.com/S9MRHR4mce
— Jeremy Wayne Tate (@JeremyTate41) October 28, 2024
Indeed, legendary “Rocky” composer Bill Conti has said that the film’s gripping soundtrack was inspired by the Catholic mass.
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