Sylvester Stallone invokes ‘Rocky,’ calls Donald Trump ‘second George Washington’ in bizarre speech

Sylvester Stallone isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to pummeling Donald Trump with praise.

The Oscar-nominated actor attended the America First Policy Institute Gala at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla. on Thursday night, where he introduced the president-elect with a short — and slightly bizarre — speech comparing the political figure to mythical entities and George Washington.

“When I did Rocky, if you remember, the first image was a picture of Jesus, and it says, ‘Resurrection AC’ [on the wall]. I found a church that had been converted to a boxing ring. The image pans down from Jesus onto Rocky being hit, and at that moment, he was the chosen person,” the 78-year-old told attendees from the stage. “That’s how I began the journey, something was going to happen, this man was going to go through a metamorphosis and change lives — just like President Trump.”

He continued, telling the crowd that “we’re in the presence of a really mythical character” with regards to Trump, and stressed, “I love mythology” before praising Trump further.

“This individual does not exist on this planet. Nobody in the world could’ve pulled off what we pulled off, so I’m in awe. I’ll just say this, and I mean it, when George Washington defended his country, he had no idea that he was going to change the world, because without him, you could imagine what the world would look like?” Stallone said, apparently referencing Trump’s election victory over Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. “Guess what? We’ve got the second George Washington. Congratulations!”

Stallone then clapped as he walked away from the podium, looking toward an off-stage person to ask, “We good?” and then waving goodbye to the audience. He quickly returned to the microphone, however, amid several pauses.

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“Please welcome the President of the United States, Donald Trump! Thank you!” Stallone eventually said, as Trump made his way to join Stallone on stage.

Stallone previously supported Trump ahead of the Nov. 5 election, even appearing on a pre-poll TV segment on the conservative channel Fox News that saw a network host video-chat Stallone while he approached the iconic Philadelphia staircase where Rocky was filmed.

He also told Variety in 2016 that he admired Trump, but remained cautious about his prospects as a politician. “I love Donald Trump,” he said at the time. “He’s a great Dickensian character. You know what I mean? There are certain people like Arnold, Babe Ruth, that are bigger than life. But I don’t know how that translates to running the world.”

Watch Stallone’s speech about Trump at Mar-a-Lago in the CSPAN clip above.