Twitter Reacts To Kathy Griffin Beheading Donald Trump In Graphic Picture

Comedian Kathy Griffin made waves on Twitter Tuesday after releasing a photo in which she held the bloody, decapitated head of President Donald Trump. Griffin quickly defended the image, which was first obtained by TMZ, saying that it was merely an “expression of art.”

Yashar Ali, a journalist, said on Twitter that he had spoken to Griffin and that in response to the image, she said she believed Trump was doing “tremendous damage to the country and the world and she wanted the art to reflect the seriousness of his impact.”

Griffin told Ali she was inspired by the statement Trump made about Megyn Kelly in which he discussed the “blood coming out of her wherever.” She also told Ali “she does not condone any violence, that provocative art should remain just that: art,” he said in a tweet. “She does not want life to imitate art.”

In a video also obtained by TMZ, Griffin appeared to joke about having to move away because of the image.

“We’re going to move to Mexico today because we’re going to go to prison,” she said.

The backlash to the photo on Twitter was quick and fierce.

“What Kathy Griffin has done here is shocking and wrong. It’s behavior that should be condemned by all,” journalist Evan Siegfried wrote.

One of the president’s sons also spoke out about the picture on Twitter.

“Disgusting but not surprising. This is the left today. They consider this acceptable. Imagine a conservative did this to Obama as POTUS?” Donald Trump Jr. said in a tweet.

“Kathy Griffin shows her support for ISIS by holding a mock-up of President Trump’s decapitated head,” another user wrote.

Others mocked Griffin for her status, or lack thereof, among celebrities.

“Dude, Kathy Griffin doesn’t remember when Kathy Griffin was relevant,” one person said in a Tweet.

“Hey look, @kathygriffin is attempting to be relevant! Doubt it will work this time either,” said another.

The president has remained mum about the picture, but if history is any indication, Trump might touch on it. In March, after a music video emerged in which rapper Snoop Dogg was depicted shooting the president, Trump discussed it on Twitter.

“Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!” Trump wrote.

Griffin appeared to be unfazed by the criticism of her photo.

“I won’t give away what we’re doing,” she said in a video released alongside the images. “But Tyler [the photographer] and I are not afraid to do images that make noise.”