Norman Lear Has Harsh Things to Say About Trump and Conservatism

Television producer Norman Lear (shown above left) is no fan of President Donald Trump.

The creator of such classic sitcoms as “Good Times” and “All in the Family” co-wrote an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter that called on Americans to reject the president’s federal court judge picks and his rhetoric as well.

“It’s bad enough that the religious Right has spent decades claiming ownership over faith, family and freedom. But now we have to watch conservative preachers and political activists wrap themselves in the First Amendment and the Constitution that their beloved President Trump takes a dump on every day,” wrote Lear. “To our fellow liberals and progressives, and to other fair-minded, reason-respecting Americans, we say we can’t let them get away with it.”

Lear, who is 96 years old (he was born in July 1922), warned people about falling for rhetoric that masks itself in patriotism and pride in the American flag, family and communities.

“There’s something about these symbols and documents, about the values of individual liberty and equality that they proclaim, that speak to the core of what it means to be American,” he wrote.

He then specifically went after Trump’s federal court picks.

“It’s striking that President Trump’s rhetorical longing for some unspecified past when America was greater than it is now parallels his nomination of judges handpicked by right-wing ideological groups committed to promoting ‘originalism’ and ‘conservative constitutionalism,’” he wrote.

“They want us, as a country, to go back to an understanding of the Constitution grounded in states’ rights and radically restricted federal authority.”

He then continued, “In their hands, the First Amendment is no longer a shield to protect everyone’s free exercise of religion; it is a sword to wield against legal and lived equality for disfavored people. For many of these ‘constitutional conservatives,’ programs created by the New Deal and Great Society to tackle national problems like widespread poverty and lack of access to health care are illegitimate. They want us, as a country, to go back to an understanding of the Constitution grounded in states’ rights and radically restricted federal authority.”

The producer’s Netflix series “One Day at a Time” is headed into its third season. To hear more about what Lear thinks of Trump, check out the video below: