Donald Trump Courtroom Sketch Sparks Avalanche of Memes, Jokes—'The Grinch'

A courtroom sketch of Donald Trump during his historic arraignment on Tuesday has sparked a series of jokes on social media.

Twitter users mocked the former president for his apparent scowl in the courtroom sketch as well as detecting a likeness to fictional characters like Dr. Seuss' bad-tempered The Grinch.

Trump appeared at the Manhattan Criminal Court for arraignment on Tuesday after a a grand jury indicted him following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The D.A.'s office probed a payment of $130,000 by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about an alleged affair she had with Trump in 2006. Trump denies wrongdoing and denies having an affair with Daniels.

Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree at Tuesday's hearing presided over by New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan. The former president pleaded not guilty.

The Reuters Pictures Twitter page shared a courtroom sketch of Trump by Jane Rosenberg—that has now been viewed two million times—before social media users began sharing memes and jokes in response.

Mike Rothschild, a journalist and author joked: "Reuters sketch of Trump looks like if a Romulan [a race from the Star Trek franchise] and the Grinch had a baby. I love it."

Author Megan Kelley Hall also joined in on the comparison between Trump and the Dr. Seuss character by sharing a gif with the caption "twinsies".

One photoshopped image has also begun to circulate showing the head of Trump from the sketch replacing the head of the figure in the famous Edvard Munch composition The Scream.

Some social media users joked that Trump could eventually use the sketch as his online avatar or even as an album cover.

Twitter user MavStation took this one step further and added a parental advisory explicit content sticker and zoomed in on Trump's scowling face as they reposted the edited sketch.

However some social media users were less impressed with the artist's depiction of Trump.

Twitter user TheMarieOakes tweeted: "Even the court sketch artists for Reuters are biased."

Another social media user, gay_lumberjack, defended Trump and wrote: "How thoughtful of Reuters to draw Trump covered with mud to symbolize all the mudslinging that targets him. That's the explanation, right?"

Following his arrest and arraignment, Trump returned to his Florida home at Mar-a-Lago and gave a 25-minute address. During his speech he lashed out at Bragg and accused him of being a criminal. He also accused Merchan of "hating him".

Some of Trump's supporters deemed this speech low-energy however, and criticized the former president for what they felt was a lackluster performance.

Newsweek has contacted Trump's office for comment.