Hollywood actor Brad Pitt used a recent sit-down interview with the New York Times’ T Magazine to lash out at supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Mr. Pitt sat allowed writer Marlon James to visit Plan B, the California film production company he co-founded in 2001, for a wide-ranging discussion that covered everything from his distaste for Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” to Brexit.
The actor reserved his most pointed criticism for Mr. Trump and his supporters.
“Man, I never thought that [Brexit] would happen,” said the Oscar-nominated actor, the newspaper reported Wednesday. “Same way I can’t bring myself to think that Trump will be in charge. In the simplest terms, what brings us together is good, and what separates us is bad. We have this great line in ’The Big Short,’ … ’When things are going wrong and we can’t find the reason for it, we just start creating enemies.’”
The actor said “illegal immigrants” were an example of a manufactured enemy for Mr. Trump’s supporters, but then added that he tries to “understand” such reasoning.
“Coming from Oklahoma, southern Missouri, which leans more toward a Trump voice, I try to understand it,” the 52-year-old actor said. “What I’m most hopeful about is that we’re a global neighborhood now, and we start to understand each other more and more — and yet, you see this reactionary push for isolation and separation again. A Trump supporter is fighting against just about everything. What does he even mean, take our country back? Would someone please explain that to me? Where’d it go?”
An answer to Mr. Pitt’s question came directly from Mr. Trump during his July 21 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
“Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo,” the billionaire said. “As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. This will all change in 2017 … Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.”
Mr. Pitt will is set to star in “War Machine,” a satire of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, later this fall. The film, an adaptation of Michael Hastings’ 2012 book, “The Operators,” will premier on Netflix.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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