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Opinion

Will Donald Trump crash the Golden Globes?

By David Horsey
Los Angeles Times Exclusive
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With the Golden Globes on Sunday, we have entered the heart of the awards season. The Grammys are coming up and, at the end of February, the big one: the Academy Awards. With so much attention aimed at so many stars, how will the country’s biggest political prima donna be able to resist a grab for the spotlight?

For more than half a year, Donald Trump has demonstrated the power of celebrity. He has taken and held the lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination largely through his ability to hog attention. The media reaction to Trump has been truly Pavlovian; Trump rings the bell of controversy, and political reporters and pundits start salivating and wagging their tails.

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This last week, Trump managed to grab a prominent spot on the cable and broadcast news shows for several days with the cheapest of cheap shots: attacking Bill Clinton’s legendary horniness. In the 1990s, comedians and cartoonists mined the details of Clinton’s seamy sex life for every last ounce of satire. Who knew anyone could still find a nugget of interest in this overworked material?

Apparently Trump knew. Just a few tweets about the randy days of Hillary Clinton’s once-wayward husband got Trump another several days of free publicity. Trump is hooked on the attention. Whenever the political chatter begins to veer toward other candidates, The Donald pulls up Twitter and sends out another 140 characters of insult and bombast.

Soon, the Hollywood stars will begin striding down the red carpets, getting interviews and face time on camera. How can Trump not want to be there, too? Maybe he will not physically crash the party, but he doesn’t have to. Imagine if Jeffrey Tambor picks up some gold for his portrayal of a transsexual in “Transparent” or Eddie Redmayne is a winner for a similar role in “The Danish Girl.” Trump could quickly tweet something about perverts and political correctness and instantly be in the news. What if Julia Louis-Dreyfus gets another award for “Veep,” in which she plays a self-promoting, wildly incompetent female president? The Trump tweet comparing Julia to Hillary writes itself.

And, should “Max Max: Fury Road” come up with a Golden Globe, Trump could boldly tweet a claim to be the perfect leader for a dystopian future where everyone is angry and the biggest bully rules. For once, he would not be exaggerating.

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Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Old radicals and big media descend on Selma  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo.   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear.   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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Note to readers: Watch for an expanded version of my Trump-on-the-red-carpet cartoon in Saturday’s edition of The Times and see what all the other characters have to say.

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Opinion
David Horsey

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist David Horsey is a former political commentator for the Los Angeles Times. Syndicated by Tribune Media Services, David’s work has appeared in hundreds of media outlets. After graduating from the University of Washington, Horsey entered journalism as a political reporter. His multifaceted career has taken him to national political party conventions, presidential primaries, the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl, assignments in Europe, Japan and Mexico, and two extended stints working at the Hearst Newspapers Washington Bureau. As a Rotary Foundation scholar, Horsey earned an M.A. in international relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Seattle University. Horsey has published eight books of cartoons, including his two most recent, “Draw Quick, Shoot Straight” (2007) and “Refuge of Scoundrels” (2013). For escape, he spends a few weeks each year working as a cowboy in Montana.

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