Actor George Clooney called GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump a “xenophobic fascist” and an “opportunist,” though he’s confident the American people will not elect the real estate mogul as president.
In an interview published Thursday by The Guardian, Mr. Clooney, 54, recalled a time when he met Mr. Trump face to face.
“I met Donald once,” he said. “I was sitting in a booth and we talked for a while. Then he did ’Larry King,’ and he said I was very short. And I was like: ’I was sitting down the whole time, Donald!’ “
“He’s just an opportunist. Now he’s a fascist; a xenophobic fascist,” Mr. Clooney said.
But he’s not too worried, reciting a quote often ascribed to Winston Churchill: “You can count on Americans to do the right thing after they’ve exhausted all the other possibilities,” The Guardian reported.
“Let’s put things into perspective,” Mr. Clooney said. “You know, the truth of the matter is, in election season, things go crazy, and the loudest voices are the furthest and most extreme. So you hear a massively stupid idea, like we’re going to ban Muslims from the country. Now, we’re not ever going to do that. It says in the Statue of Liberty, bring us your huddled masses. It’s not what’s going to happen.”
The longtime Democrat said he’s endorsed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for president.
“I am doing a fundraiser for her,” he said, adding, “I really love Bernie Sanders and am really glad he is in the debate. He is forcing the conversation to things that never get talked about in U.S. politics: disparity between the rich and the poor, which is getting worse and worse every day.”
“Right now, we are dealing so much with domestic politics that no one talks about real-world issues,” he lamented. “No one is talking about the Syrian refugee thing in the U.S. — nobody. You might hear little snippets of it, five seconds on the news. It’s a big worldwide issue, and it needs to be talked about. If the press covered it more, we would be more involved, and do more.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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