WATCH: Duterte’s ASEAN handshake with Trump enters cartoon immortality through ‘The Simpsons’

Robert Mueller meets with President Donald Trump… #TheSimpsons pic.twitter.com/h693XgOPFM

— The Simpsons (@TheSimpsons) December 14, 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte has made it to the stellar list of guests in the popular and long-running American animated series “The Simpsons” — sort of.

In a new episode titled “Mueller Meets Trump,” United States special envoy Robert Mueller is seen being picked up by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mueller is then sent to meet President Donald Trump at the Trump Hotel.

The cartoon Trump tries to bribe Mueller for $750 million (around P37.8 billion), to silence him on the issue of Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The U.S. President’s cartoon version stressed that what he’s offering is a “huge bribe. There’s never been a bigger one.”

But what may interest Filipinos more is one of the frames hanging inside the hotel room — it shows a photo-drawing of Trump and Duterte shaking hands. It’s reminiscent of the handshake that state leaders did in the opening ceremony of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, held in Manila last month.

The footage was first uploaded on the official “The Simpsons” Twitter page on Friday, and has since garnered nearly 22,000 retweets and over 34,000 likes, as of this writing.

When asked for comment, presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar said that the cartoon’s depiction of the handshake between Duterte and Trump only signifies Manila’s successful hosting of the summit, a report by Radyo Inquirer stated.

Andanar added that President Duterte must have appealed to the artist, so much so that it’s Duterte who was drawn even when there are other leaders present during the event, with which Trump did the ASEAN handshake.

“The Simpsons” is now running on its 29th season. It is much-loved by audiences worldwide for its satirical depiction of American life and hilarious-yet-biting parody of current events and global issues. JB

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