‘I Like Donald Trump a Lot and Am Extremely Proud He Is the American President’

“I like Donald Trump a lot and am extremely proud he is the American president. And I’m sorry if that offends you.”

That quote — surprise! — comes from one of the entertainment industry’s unique and most successful artists.

Vincent Gallo, the filmmaker behind such flicks as “Buffalo ’66” and “The Brown Bunny,” has never shied away from his right-of-center beliefs and his feelings about the aggressive liberalism of most of Hollywood.

In a recent essay for Another Man magazine, Gallo revealed his take on the current president, along with disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein and more.

Gallo has been relatively quiet on the film front since his controversial 2004 release “The Brown Bunny,” which earned boos during its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — though it’s since gained a cult following.

Gallo noted how the press back then twisted his words and said critics did not give his movie a fair shot.

“Listening to nasty remarks about me or my work doesn’t feel good. I don’t enjoy being unpopular; however, in order to think freely, I must be willing to risk being unpopular. To think, I must risk being offensive. Anyway, most people are not listening but instead projecting,” Gallo wrote.

The artist said he was ostracized and demonized after his movie premiered, much as the mainstream media have done to Trump. Gallo said he’s grateful the president has stood up to the press.

“Thankfully, these days Donald Trump has at least created some doubts about everything related to the press,” Gallo wrote. “In 2003 I was the Donald Trump of Cannes and anything I said or did was twisted and filtered through the righteous tabloid barbarians posing as journalists and critics.”

The actor and director believes much of the vitriol toward his film from critics had more to do with him as a person than with his work as an artist.

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“It was something suspicious about me. Something offensive to certain ideologues,” he said about critics’ motivations.

Gallo also didn’t hold back in discussing the disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein, saying he’d confronted the man when he heard about an incident involving an ex-girlfriend, Asia Argento.

“I do remember … threatening Harvey Weinstein for what Asia claimed he did to her. That created a real enemy in Harvey, who certainly went out of his way to marginalize my work and my opportunities as much as he could. By calling him out then I was his enemy and no one from the press would repeat any of my claims against him. My clash with him was costly to me in a real way,” Gallo recalled.

He continued, “Naturally, it felt bad when, instead of speaking out along with me, Asia then denied and changed her story and went on to work with him, carry on a personal relationship with him, and repeat additional things I said about him to further enrage him against me. Her appearance in recent press regarding Harvey is very uncomfortable for me.”

Gallo also had critical words for another alleged Weinstein victim, Rose McGowan, and an alleged payment she’d received from Weinstein to remain silent. “What if, instead of taking a $100,000 payoff to remain silent, Rose McGowan filed charges against Harvey Weinstein at the time of her incident? How many future incidents would she have prevented?” he wrote.

He added about McGowan and Argento, “Harvey Weinstein is a brutal pig, yes, but I really wish it wasn’t those two particular girls getting glorified for now saying so.”

As if praising Trump and condemning Weinstein weren’t enough, Gallo also shared his thoughts on modern-day groupthink and identity politics.

“I don’t believe any activist has the right to speak for entire communities.”

“I don’t believe any activist has the right to speak for entire communities,” he wrote.

He added, “Today’s intolerant, young, liberal California/New Yorkers are only comfortable within their own shared consensus. Friends must think alike and believe the same things now. They must vote the same and defend the same ideology like zombies. Anyone who disagrees can only be evil, stupid, and wrong.”

Gallo’s words will no doubt earn him hate from leftists eager to call yet another public figure “evil, stupid, and wrong” for daring to have an individual opinion. But Gallo’s comments are commendable: He’s rejecting the status quo and speaking his mind.

He’s calling out the mainstream media for the way they often twist things to fit their own agenda. Maybe he won’t change any minds with his essay or his openness — but he’s at least standing up for what he believes at a time many want to use fear tactics to prevent others like him from doing so.

PopZette editor Zachary Leeman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.