Donald Trump Called Meryl Streep ‘Overrated’ After She Denounced Him At Golden Globes, But Just Over A Year Ago He Had Called Her An ‘Excellent’ Actress [Opinion]
In the world that Donald Trump inhabits, things can change very quickly.
Critics often cite Trump’s inconsistency in holding down a view or an opinion for any substantial period of time without altering it. Ever since the president-elect announced his campaign from Trump Tower in 2015, there have been numerous instances where Donald Trump has changed his views on a matter or his views about certain people. Sometimes, he has taken a complete U-turn and admonished the same people he professed to love a while ago. His long-brewing feud with news host Megyn Kelly, which dominated much of the headlines in 2016, was just one example of such fickleness.
Now, the president-elect finds himself embroiled in another feud with Meryl Streep, one of the finest actresses of her generation. Streep called out Trump during her acceptance speech of a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes, tearing into him for his bullying rhetoric and, more specifically, for mocking a journalist’s physical disability in late 2015, as reported by the Washington Post.
“But there was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hook in my heart not because it was good. It was — there was nothing good about it, but it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth. It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter, someone he outranked in privilege, power, and the capacity to fight back.
“It kind of broke my heart, and I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. And this instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxyGmyEby40
Donald Trump was quick to offer a rebuttal of the accusation, taking to Twitter to not only defend his actions but also to call Meryl Streep an “overrated” actress who was vilifying him because she was a “Hillary flunky who lost big.”
Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
"groveling" when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017
Later on Monday night, in an interview with the New York Times, Donald Trump said that he was not surprised that “liberal movie people” were attacking him, and he flatly denied the accusation that he had ever mocked a reporter because of his disability.
“I was never mocking anyone. I was calling into question a reporter who had gotten nervous because he had changed his story. People keep saying I intended to mock the reporter’s disability, as if Meryl Streep and others could read my mind, and I did no such thing.”
However, it appears Trump’s denial of the accusation is just another example of his inconsistency. The president-elect’s denouncement of Meryl Streep as an “overrated” actress seems to spring more from what she said earlier in the day about him, rather than an actual critique of the actress’ performances in front of the camera.
In fact, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Donald Trump had called Meryl Streep one of his favorite actresses in 2015. During an interview with Janice Min, when asked who were his favorite actresses in Hollywood, Trump had named Streep as an “excellent” actress that he truly admired.
“Julia Roberts is terrific, and many others. Meryl Streep is excellent; she’s a fine person, too,” Donald Trump had said.
So it is possible that Trump’s denouncement of Streep as an “overrated” actress only happened because the Hollywood queen did Trump no favors by calling on the principal press to hold the president-elect accountable for all his actions once he steps into office on January 20.
[Featured Image by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images]
