Donald Trump received’t be inviting George Clooney to the Kennedy Middle anytime quickly. After Clooney criticized the present administration whereas selling his new Broadway play, Good Evening, and Good Luck, Trump fired again, calling the actor a “second price film ‘star’” on Fact Social.
On Sunday, Clooney appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes to advertise Good Evening, and Good Luck, the stage adaptation of his 2005 movie of the identical identify. Clooney makes his Broadway debut within the play as veteran CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, who made waves within the Fifties for taking over Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Purple Scare. Within the interview, Clooney drew parallels between Murrow’s battle with McCarthy and the federal government’s present battle with the free press, calling it “a struggle that’s for the ages.”
Clooney pointed to journalistic establishments resembling The Washington Submit and the Los Angeles Occasions, whose editorial staffs are at present embroiled in public disputes with the papers’ billionaire house owners, Jeff Bezos and Dr. Patrick Quickly-Shiong, respectively. “ABC has simply settled a lawsuit with the Trump administration,” Clooney mentioned, referencing Trump’s not too long ago settled $16 million defamation go well with towards the community. “And CBS Information is within the course of. We’re seeing this concept of utilizing authorities to scare or effective or use firms to make journalists smaller…. When the opposite three estates fail, when the judiciary and the manager and the legislative branches fail us, the fourth property has to succeed.”
“Governments don’t like the liberty of the press,” Clooney added. “They by no means have. And that goes for whether or not you’re a conservative or a liberal or no matter aspect you’re on. They don’t just like the press.”
Trump will need to have had his eyes glued to CBS yesterday night, as he rapidly hopped on Fact Social to bash Clooney. “Why would the now extremely discredited 60 Minutes be doing a complete ‘puff piece’ on George Clooney, a second price film ‘star,’ and failed political pundit,” he wrote. Trump went on to reference Clooney’s July 2024 op-ed imploring Joe Biden to step down forward of the November election. “He fought laborious for Sleepy Joe’s election after which, proper after the Debate, dumped him like a canine,” Trump wrote. “Later, I assume underneath orders from the Obama camp, pushed all out for ‘Kamala,’ solely to quickly notice that that was not going to work out to nicely.”
Trump then aimed his ire at 60 Minutes: “60 Minutes even fraudulently inserted Faux solutions into her disastrous interview, aired simply earlier than Election Day, in one of the embarrassing and dishonest occasions in broadcast historical past…And now George Clooney once more? His press agent ought to be making a fortune!!!”
This isn’t the primary time Trump has criticized Clooney. After Clooney revealed his op-ed, Trump referred to as him a “faux film actor” who “by no means got here shut to creating a terrific film.” Clearly, Trump missed Michael Clayton, The Descendants, and Good Evening, and Good Luck, however fortunately he’ll have the prospect to see the stage model of the latter if he occurs to swing by New York Metropolis within the subsequent few months whereas in search of programming for the Kennedy Middle.
