The radically liberal Hollywood director and activist Spike Lee spoke out this week to say that he believes that the world is “run by gangsters” like “Agent Orange,” which is his nickname for former President Donald Trump.

While answering questions at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where he is serving on the jury, Lee responded to one Georgian reporter’s question about Russian oppression by attacking Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Close

“This world is run by gangsters — Agent Orange [Donald Trump], the guy in Brazil [president Jair Bolsinaro] and [Russian president Vladimir] Putin,” Lee said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“They’re gangsters, and they’re gonna do what they want to do. They have no morals and no scruples,” he said. “And we have to speak out against gangsters like that.”

Last month, while accepting an award from the New York Film Critics Circle, Lee brazenly declared that “President Agent Orange will go down in history with the likes of Hitler.”

“The whole world is laughing at the United States of America, the so-called cradle of democracy,” Lee said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“We’re at a crossroads now, and everybody please be safe. This is not a game. These people got guns with ammunition,” he warned. “I hope to God that I’m wrong, but people are gonna get killed behind this bullshit. This president, President Agent Orange [Donald Trump], will go down in history with the likes of Hitler. These guys — all his boys — they’re going down on the wrong side of history.”

Back in 2019, Lee blasted Trump as a “white supremacist” during a CNN appearance. Trump fired back at him during the Oscars that year.

“Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!” Trump wrote on Twitter at the time.