Hollywood Reacts to Second Trump Presidency Win: “A Sign of Deep Nihilism”
Let the Democrat dooming begin.
Hollywood went to bed on Tuesday night dreading Donald Trump winning the 2024 presidential election as the former president began racking up state after state. But there were perhaps still hopes of a 2020 style reversal on Wednesday morning, if the big swing states in the much-vaunted ‘Blue Wall’ came through. Alas, the hopes were dashed after Wisconsin was called for Trump, clinching him his 270 electoral votes.
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Trump wasted no time in declaring victory, hitting the stage at his victory party at Mar-a-Lago at 2:30 a.m. ET. In his typical meandering and blustering style, the former president claimed a “magnificent” victory. Harris did not speak as election night turned into Wednesday morning and supporters gathered for what was supposed to be a celebration at her alma mater, Howard University. Her campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond told the crowd she will address the nation later Wednesday.
The reaction to Trump’s victory was swift on social media, even before the pivotal state of Pennsylvania was called, with prominent Democrats and Hollywood figures lamenting the state of affairs and making clear their fears for the future under a second Trump administration.
Some reactions have been loud but brief — such as Cardi B’s Instagram Story saying, “I hate y’all bad” — and others, like Oscar-nominated filmmaker and activist Adam McKay, didn’t hold back. On X, he delivered an excoriating take down of the Democrat establishment. “Who would have guessed lying about Biden’s cognitive health for 2 yrs, refusing to do an open convention for a new nominee, never mentioning public healthcare & embracing fracking, the Cheneys & a yr long slaughter of children in Gaza wouldn’t be a winning strategy? Anyone with half a brain?” McKay wrote.
In a statement, former President Barack Obama wrote in part, “As I said on the campaign trail, America has been through a lot over the last few years — from a historic pandemic and price hikes resulting from the pandemic, to rapid change and the feeling a lot of folks have that, no matter how hard they work, treading water is the best they can do. Those conditions have created headwinds for democratic incumbents around the world, and last night showed that America is not immune. The good news is that these problems are solvable — but only if we listen to each other, and only if we abide by the core constitutional principles and democratic norms that made this country great.”
The Don’t Look Up director added, “But I thought liberals’ whole thing is being smart? It’s not? They actually just blindly cheer the parade of rickety optics wrapped up in New York Times fonts that is the modern Dem Party? Well at least it’s time for the dusty hacks & careerists to spread their feathers wide post election and blame Russia and third party candidates. That should fix things.”
Bette Midler, who has been a vocal critic of Trump over the years, quoted journalist and essayist H.L. Mencken. She posted on X before deleting her account: “When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost… All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum… The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
Jamie Lee Curtis wrote, in part: “So the results are in. Many will be celebrating, possibly even gloating over their victory. Many will be stunned and sad with the terrible feelings of the loss. That is the same result despite who wins because that’s what America and democracy looks like. Has always looked like. So what does it mean? It means a sure return to a more restrictive, some fear draconian time. Many fear their rights will be impeded and denied. Many, minority groups and young people will be afraid. Gay and trans people will be more afraid. We know that many women will now find it difficult to get the reproductive healthcare that they need and deserve. For all those people there will be those who will help you. Me included.”
Jeff Bezos celebrated Trump’s win by writing: “Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
When a Twitter account told Zachary Levi, who had endorsed Trump in the election, “The only consolation here is that you will never be part of mainstream Hollywood after this. You can make movies with Mel Gibson and Dennis Quaid,” the Shazam! actor tweeted in response, “Oh, it’s all gravy, Roger! My goal has always been to leave it at some point anyway, and build a better system that actually values and compensates the artists more than enriching far too many executives that, by and large, compromise the creative integrity of the art whilst taking the lion share of the proceeds, which they don’t deserve. In addition, I plan on creating a studio that protects and promotes certified organic, human-made content, while mainstream Hollywood continues to replace all of its workforce with AI, simply to maximize their dwindling profits. Enjoy reporting on the sidelines of the Hollywood apocalypse!”
Kerry Washington, who spoke at the DNC this election, wrote of the results, “It was not a mirage. Swipe through. Thank you to @blackliturgies and @wetheurban for these pearls of love, truth, wisdom and humanity. Be kind to yourself today. There is more work to do.”
Billie Eilish took to her Instagram Story to react to the results, writing, “it’s a war on women.”
David Sirota, a journalist and former Bernie Sanders adviser who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Don’t Look Up with McKay, was his usual blunt self on social media, posting on X: “This is a very bad night. Some of us spent years warning Dems to take working-class politics more seriously & to not tout neocons. We did so in hopes of avoiding this & yet we were vilified as traitors by Dem elites & liberal pundits. There’s a lesson here.”
Speaking on his Breakfast Club radio show Wednesday morning, Charlamagne Tha God, who backed Kamala Harris and even hosted an audio town hall for the vice president, accepted the result and chalked it up to the economy and the border more than “racism, sexism, homophobia, antisemitism.”
“Democrats are going to be looking for someone to blame. Let me be the first to tell you it’s not just one thing,” he said. “I personally feel like Donald Trump speaks to people’s grievances better than Democrats do. I know people are going to talk about misinformation and the dumbing down of society, I understand all of that, but you don’t have to be intelligent to know you can’t pay your bills. You don’t have to be intelligent to know you can’t afford groceries. People will forget what you did, they will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. … I don’t think it’s fair to just chalk up Trump winning to racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism, yes, he tapped into all of the worst things America has ever had to offer and there are a lot of people who agree his rhetoric and voted for him because of those reasons, but I truly believe most people voted for him because they want more money in their pockets and they want to feel safe. … I’m not saying Donald Trump is going to fix all of that. I’m saying Donald Trump has made people feel like he will fix all of that in a way that Democrats haven’t. Once again, don’t just chalk it up to racism, sexism. OK, I believe those things play a role, but at the end of the day, it’s the economy stupid and Democrats might just be really out of touch with what everyday Americans are feeling.”
An exasperated Christina Applegate also wrote on X: “Why? Give me your reasons why????? My child is sobbing because her rights as a woman may be taken away. Why?And if you disagree , please unfollow me.” She continued in a separate post: “Please unfollow me if you voted against female rights. Against disability rights. Yeah that. Unfollow me because what you did is unreal. Don’t want followers like this. So yeah. Done.”
Black List founder Franklin Leonard was particularly active on social media on election night. Among his tweets, Leonard wrote on X, “Too many of y’all appear to have forgotten how absolutely wild the Trump years were.” And early on Wednesday morning he tweeted, “I don’t have certainty about what just happened, and I’m reasonably certain no one else does either.”
David Simon, the creator of The Wire, Treme and The Deuce, aimed his fury at the X platform in particular. On Tuesday night, Simon tweeted that “hellsite” X would become “a rancid cesspool of lies and disinformation tonight and through the next several days. It was purchased and restructured for this precise purpose. Expect nothing less than a projectile vomiting of hype, falsehoods and petulant rage. And, of course, keep moving forward and toward the light. We can do this.” On Wednesday morning, Simon had seemingly announced he was leaving the platform: “Dormant account under present management of this social media site. Will return to post any subsequent platform, but otherwise unmonitored. God bless us all. Even the scrotes and shitheels.”
Simon’s longtime artistic collaborator Wendell Pierce was also active on election night. The Wire and Treme actor was in a sobering mood, and among his many posts, he said, “Elections have consequences. The Supreme Court will be changed for a generation. I’ll never see a moderate court again in my lifetime. Alito and Thomas will step down and Trump will appoint 40 year old partisans to the bench. The damage he is about to inflict on our institutions the next 2 years will be irreparable.”
A distraught Yvette Nicole Brown posted about Sherrod Brown losing his senate race in Ohio as well as Trump’s dominant win. The Community actress tweeted: “Sherrod Brown losing in Ohio is a lost to Ohio and our nation. This is a disgrace at a level I can’t even quantify. My home state of Ohio chose a criminal. And it looks like this nation is choosing a criminal. AmeriKKKa is showing out tonight. Just showing out.”
13 Reasons Why star Brandon Flynn took to his Instagram Story to share that he was “finally” getting out of bed and feeling “rough.” “To those with Big Feelings, Big Fears and Big anxieties-who might think drugs and alcohol will solve your problems today… they won’t. I’m sending you love and encouragement that just for today, you are not alone and you don’t need to drink or drug. Call a friend, go to a meeting, scream and cry.”
John Cusack was similarly appalled, writing on X in a post that has now been deleted, “The fact that the country would choose to destroy itself by voting in a convicted felon rapist and Nazi is a sign of deep nihilism. To put it mildly.”
Philip Pullman, the British author behind the His Dark Materials books that have been adapted into movies and series, wrote on X, “Goodbye, America. It was nice knowing you.”
Former Desus and Mero co-host Desus Nice tweeted about the result, “America having one of those gender reveals that starts a wildfire that burns for like 30 days.”
Glee star Kevin McHale was very despondent and fearful of what a Trump victory meant. “Supreme Court gone for the rest of my lifetime. Ultra-conservative evangelical bigotry, xenophobia, racism is the mandate,” McHale tweeted.
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