War of words

Actor-filmmaker George Clooney has branded US President Donald Trump a “Hollywood elitist” and a “demagogue”.

In an interview with a French channel, Clooney said Meryl Streep “had every right to speak up” at the Golden Globes against Trump. “When Meryl spoke, everyone on that one side said, ‘Well that’s elitist Hollywood speaking.’ Donald Trump has 22 acting credits in television. He collects $120,000 a year in his Screen Actors Guild pension fund. He is a Hollywood elitist,” Clooney said. 

Clooney went on to slam Tump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon.

“Steve Bannon is a failed film writer and director. That’s the truth. That’s what he’s done. He wrote a Shakespearean rap musical about the Los Angeles riots that he couldn’t get made. He made a lot of money off Seinfeld. He’s elitist Hollywood, I mean, that’s the reality,” he said. The actor also called for journalists to continue to hold Trump’s “feet to the fire”.

“We have a demagogue in the White House. We need the Fourth Estate, which is journalists, to hold his feet to the fire,” Clooney said. 

—IANS