Hollywood slams Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists: ‘Turn off his mic’
Hollywood is condemning Donald Trump after the president failed to condemn white supremacists during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
Yara Shahidi, Olivia Wilde, Ava DuVernay, Storm Reid, Elizabeth Banks, Kumail Nanjiani, Chance the Rapper and many other celebrities expressed their outrage on Twitter after moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump to denounce white supremacists. Trump instead told a far-right hate group, the Proud Boys, to “stand back and stand by.”
“Here’s the big takeaway from the debate: Trump was asked to condemn white supremacists, and not only did he refuse to do so, he told them to ‘stand back and stand by,’” actor Nanjiani tweeted. “You know, as if he is their leader. That’s the takeaway.”
“He’s refusing to tell racists to stand down and blames an ideology for all the crime and murders,” wrote “Euphoria” actress Reid. “THIS is why we have to vote him out. We cannot have him in office for another 4 years.”
“Westworld” star Tessa Thompson speculated Trump dodged Wallace’s question because “you cannot condemn your base,” while writer, actress and producer Lena Waithe simply opted to “turn this off now” after his Proud Boys remark.
“The entire country has to make a decision as to whether it will continue to downplay the fact that our President is an openly racist White Supremacist and what that means for its citizens or... VOTE HIM OUT,” Chance the Rapper wrote.
Here are more celebrity reactions to the first presidential “s— show” (as CNN’s Dana Bash termed it on air afterward), from Chris Wallace’s performance as a moderator to Trump’s incessant interruptions.
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