Hollywood Needs to Get the Memo: Most Voters Are Sick of All the Trump-Bashing

Once upon a time, entertainers entertained — and any publicly articulated opinions on politics were exceedingly rare.

Actors and actresses, singers and songstresses, and directors and producers — people all the way down the pop culture production line — knew that weighing in on politics was a career risk with the possibility of backfire.

Back then, no one turned to these people for insight into the complex social issues of the day or for pearls of political wisdom. Why would they?

But fast-forward to the celebrity culture of today. One might think from all the media attention entertainers garner that they’ve suddenly received doctorates in philosophy from Harvard — or whatever life experience might actually qualify them to weigh in on the most serious and sensitive issues of our time.

Except that one press of the volume button would shatter that illusion instantly: The sheer ignorance and vulgarity of the statements about America’s current sitting president would be enough to demonstrate that either celebrities have lost their minds, or the nation has — perhaps both.

Witness a sample of the vulgar quotes on politics from so-called celebrities in the past week alone:

• From director Spike Lee: “We have a guy in the White House — I’m not gonna say his [expletive] name — who defined that moment, not just for Americans but the world, and that [expletive] was given the chance to say, ‘We are about love and not hate.'”
• From comedian Chelsea Handler: “[N]ow the bibi craizies [sic] are running the show, unchecked, and will effectively turn gaza and the left bank into starvation camps or mental asylums, if not already, and bomb iran into submission … There will be a religious term for this. i think the evangelicals call it the rapture.”
• From comedian Kathy Griffin: “How the [expletive] isn’t this a breaking news story. The President of the United States calling immigrants animals. He’s acting like it’s just the criminals but he really means all immigrants. I am [expletive] disgusted.”

One big problem with these politically loaded statements: They’re misleading at best and ignorant at a minimum.

Spike Lee does a bit of revisionist history: President Donald Trump did condemn the racists in Charlottesville; he just so happened to condemn violent left-wing groups, too. Handler neglects to mention that Israel is a democratic nation in the heart of an authoritarian-dominated Middle East and whose citizens are routinely murdered by terrorists. And as for Kathy Griffin, she’s flying off the handle about a Trump comment that led to an AP retraction, and has left more egg on the face of the media today than Mrs. Doubtfire did at tea time.

Enough. Americans are fed up with the lot of them, and these people should cease with their political commentary, as they apparently can’t tell the difference between their make-believe worlds and the actual news.

A new Rasmussen poll published this week suggests that all the Trump-bashing may be backfiring on these liberals: The constant slamming of the president persuades fewer people than it turns off.

Americans are fed up with the lot of them, and these people should cease with their political commentary, as they apparently can’t tell the difference between their make-believe worlds and the actual news.

The Washington Times summarized the findings of the poll: “Four out of 10 of the respondents say ongoing attacks on the president will have no impact on their vote when the time comes.”

It also noted, “Another 36 percent say the practice will actually inspire them to vote for a pro-Trump candidate. Less than a quarter say the criticisms will make them less likely to vote for the pro-Trump candidate.”

Related: And You Thought Colbert’s Late-Night Show Couldn’t Go Any Lower

Hollywood needs to get the memo: Most voters don’t change their minds when celebrities engage in Trump-bashing. Instead, the outrageous and constant criticism appears to fuel the kind of voter backlash that got Trump elected in the first place.

Kyle Becker is a content writer and producer with LifeZette. Follow him on Twitter.