Post date: Aug 31, 2012 7:24:5 PM
TAMPA, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 30, 2012) (NBC) - Republicans may have made Mitt Romney's day with the presidential nomination he long sought, but it was Dirty Harry himself who nearly hijacked the show with a diatribe against President Barack Obama - addressed to an empty chair.
U.S. President Barack Obama, celebrities and others post "Eastwooding" pictures on the Internet after Clint Eastwood's Republican National Convention speech.
Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood brought his star power and trademark gravelly voice to the stage of the convention hall in Tampa on Thursday (August 30), jetting in as a surprise last-minute speaker to warm up the crowd for Romney's acceptance speech.
Eastwood's cameo appearance, including an ad-libbed monologue with an imaginary Obama in an empty chair, seemed to thrill many in the audience, but was widely panned by observers across the political spectrum.
"Clint Eastwood was talking to an empty chair at the RNC… No, that's not the set up to a joke. It's not even a joke," tweeted actress Olivia Munn.
With comedian Chris Rock tweeting: "Clint Eastwood on the phone with Obama now: "It all went according to plan, sir."
The 82-year-old Academy Award-winning director and actor, who endorsed Romney earlier this month, strode to the podium serenaded by the theme music from his classic western, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Eastwood delivered an off-the-cuff, deadpan discourse, at times biting in its criticism of Obama, at times supportive of Romney's candidacy, whom he lauded for a "sterling" business record.
Occasionally, he paused to berate the chair, telling an absent Obama to "shut up."
The phrase "Eastwooding" went viral on the Internet, and pictures of people with empty chairs filled Twitter. Obama's own Twitter account posted a picture of Obama sitting in a chair marked "The President" with the comment, "This seat's taken."