Politics

Tale of the Tape: How Trump Stacks up Against Rocky Balboa

Who would win if President Donald Trump squared off against fictional prizefighter Rocky Balboa in a prizefight?

  • President Donald Trump tweeted a picture fancying himself as Rocky Balboa.
  • The doctored photo shows Trump’s face superimposed over Sylvester Stallone’s body.
  • So how would the two legends stack up in a fistfight?

Another day, another eyebrow-raising tweet from President Donald Trump. Today, Trump tweeted a doctored picture of himself cosplaying as fictional boxing legend Rocky Balboa.

Source: Twitter

The photo shows Trump’s face superimposed on the body of Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone, who is shirtless and kitted out in boxing attire. Within two hours, the tweet racked up more than 150,000 likes, and a poster of his photo became available for purchase online. 

Without any context to draw from, political analysts are likely scrambling to dissect what precisely Trump meant by the picture. So while they give their heads a scratch, let’s compare and contrast the two legends.

Does President Trump realize that Rocky didn’t always win his fights? | Source: Kraft74/Shutterstock.com

The Differences

Trump may talk a big game, but Rocky has the edge on the president in two key areas.

1. Physical health

According to Pop Workouts, Stallone clocked in at 163 pounds during the filming for Rocky III.

In contrast, Trump is slightly chunkier. According to a medical exam in February, President Trump weighs in at 243 pounds. At 6 feet, 3 inches tall, that gives Trump a Body Mass Index of 30.4 – which means he qualifies as medically obese. 

2. Background

Rocky Balboa is a fictional boxer, while Donald Trump is the real 45th president of the United States of America – as well as a fake wrestler.

The Similarities

Nevertheless, it’s not too hard to find similarities between Trump and Rocky, at least in the abstract.

1. Both Rocky & Trump Enjoy a Fight.

We all know Trump loves a good political joust, but Rocky isn’t the only one of the two men to step into a physical ring. In 2007, Donald Trump appeared on WrestleMania 23 (WWE) and showed up Vince McMahon.

In a classic Donald move, ten years later he tweeted an edited video of himself body-slamming a CNN logo.

2. Both Overcame Odds.

Similar to Rocky, many people doubted Trump could succeed when he embarked on his political career. In 2016, political commentators and pollsters repeatedly claimed Trump couldn’t win. But, to Trump’s credit, he proved the naysayers wrong.

And perhaps it is this similarity that made Trump tweet the doctored photo. It’s symbolic. The president views himself as an indefatigable underdog fighter – just like Rocky.

Then again, Trump may want to remember that Rocky didn’t always emerge victoriously.

The Verdict: Rocky in a First-Round Knockout

Come on, do we really need to list out the reasons?

Last modified: September 23, 2020 1:18 PM

Laurence Watt

Laurence is a journalist based in Canada who covers markets. He has experience working for multiple news media outlets, including as a news editor and associate producer for radio. He doesn't have many followers on Twitter, but you can change that by checking him out here. You can also reach him via email at lwatt.ccn@gmail.com