Donald Trump has been accused of copying Star Trek after he unveiled the logo for his much-maligned Space Force which bears more than a few similarities to the classic sci-fi franchise.
On Friday, the president tweeted a picture of the logo hailing it as the 'logo for the United States Space Force, the Sixth Branch of our Magnificent Military!'
To the untrained eye, this might just look like something thrown together on Photoshop by a graphic designer with some vague symbols that make assertions of patriotism and space expeditions but others recognised it as being, more or less, a direct copy of the Starfleet Command logo worn by characters like Captain Kirk, Doctor Spock, Seven of Nine and Captain Picard.
Here is a side-by-side comparison courtesy of Jim Acosta from CNN.
Trump just announced the new logo for the Space Force. The other is Star Trek Starfleet Command. https://t.co/S7NeYdjR4C— Jim Acosta (@Jim Acosta) 1579902066
Immediately, people started to pile on to the president for copying StarTrek, with the usual barrage of jokes and mockery.
https://t.co/Ekodewt5vW— Jake Tapper (@Jake Tapper) 1579903376
So....Star Trek? https://t.co/E2wLoGDn9D— Robert Maguire (@Robert Maguire) 1579901786
Either this is a joke or he's about to become the first president to get sued by Jean Luc Picard https://t.co/zoOgPQLJDX— James Felton (@James Felton) 1579903356
Even George Takei, who played Commander Sulu in the original Star Trek TV series made a comment, claiming that the Trump administration 'we are expecting some royalties from this.'
Ahem. We are expecting some royalties from this... https://t.co/msYcJMlqjh— George Takei (@George Takei) 1579901997
I feel like Melania must have had a hand in copyi--I mean, designing this.— George Takei (@George Takei) 1579903917
Some chose to make some slightly more controversial jokes, referencing Trump's associations with some of America's far-right movements.
Fixed that for you Mr President. https://t.co/Xdi6PJ5PK7 https://t.co/N0tiRvKiR3— Beaubodor (@Beaubodor) 1579909023
However, prepare to be disappointed as it has been revealed by conservative national security commentator John Noonan, that the logo is almost identical to the one that he wore for the 'Air Force Space Command' back in 2005.
Oh well, perhaps we are living in a paradoxical universe where Donald Trump invented Starfleet to 'seek out new life and new civilizations' or maybe he was just subtle promoting the new Picard series.
HT Guardian