How Big Bang Theory Snuck In A Donald Trump Reference (Without Using His Name)

Since Donald Trump officially entered the political arena in the lead-up to the 2016 election via a lengthy escalator ride at Trump Tower, he's been using pop culture to try and communicate with voters across the country. It doesn't often go well; HBO more or less told him to stop using the "Game of Thrones" font, and a whole host of musicians have insisted he stop using their music at his campaign rallies. Certainly, a fair amount of pop culture has also commented directly at Trump about his candidacy, his presidency, his loss in 2020, the ensuing insurrection in early 2021, his multiple civil and criminal charges, and so on and so forth. Most of the time, those barbs aren't semi-hidden in the middle of a block of text during a sitcom's end credits.

Enter Chuck Lorre, who always sticks a giant block of text at the end of his sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory." Before the 2016 election, he took a clear swing at Trump in one of them. After asking some sort of God to intervene in earthly matters like elections, the text continues, "Of course if you, in your divine wisdom, believe a fascist, hate-filled, fear-mongering, demagogic, truth-shattering, autocratic golf cheater is what we need right now, then, you know, thy will be done. But if thou art inclined to more freedom, more love, more compassion, and just more of the good stuff thou hath been promoting in our hearts or our parietal lobes – either one, doesn't really matter — I submissively ask that thy encourage voter turnout in that general direction." 

Chuck Lorre actually took two more shots at Donald Trump in said end credit sequences on "The Big Bang Theory," according to Vanity Fair. One time, he noted that while Trump claimed he could defeat all sorts of threats to American safety, the former president and alleged billionaire couldn't even beat Lorre's sitcom "Two and a Half Men" in the ratings. Lorre even helpfully included the ratings chart in the sequence.

Another time, he went after Trump's infamous slogan "Make America Great Again" with an "expletive"-filled rant — since "The Big Bang Theory" aired on network television, said swear words were censored by Lorre himself. "Don't be fooled. Big Daddy can't save us," reads the rant, which also went out ahead of the 2016 election. "Our salvation lies within ourselves. Within our own ingenuity and determined effort. 'Make America great again' is a bumper sticker for victimhood. But we are not victims ... We are the creators of opportunity. Sure the system's rigged. It always has been. So what?! We are a nation of immigrants who have consistently ignored the rigging. You won't let us join your club? %#&@ you, we'll start our own club." 

The sequence goes on that way about creating new schools, earning money, and finding opportunities for those Trump ostensibly doesn't like, before ending with a pointed parting shot — "You want to know what makes America great? I got two words for you."