Howard Dean believes that the millions of American Sniper fans are primarily just “angry” Tea Party members. The former Democratic National Chairman shared his views about the Chris Kyle supporters during a weekend appearance on the Bill Maher show on HBO – backlash quickly ensued via Twitter and Facebook.
“There’s a lot of anger in this country, and the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry,” Howard Dean said about the American Sniper Chris Kyle moviegoers. “This guy [Chris Kyle] basically says, “I’m going to fight on your side. I bet if you looked at the cross-section of the Tea Party and people who see this movie, there’s a lot of intersection.”
Many Tea Party members took Howard Dean’s American Sniper assessment as a compliment, noting their swelling ranks. The Clint Eastwood film about Navy SEAL Chris Kyle was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and has earned approximately $200 million at the box office just a few weeks after its release. American Sniper is one of the highest grossing movies ever released during the month of January.
Although American Sniper has been a huge hit with a significant portion of America and has propelled Chris Kyle to hero status, Howard Dean, Bill Maher, Michael Moore, and Seth Rogan have all drawn ire for their negative comments and tweets about the film.
From a reporter: Only 2 films about the Iraq War have had a U.S. box office of over $100 million: American Sniper and Fahrenheit 9/11. Hmmm.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 26, 2015
Bill Maher told Howard Dean that the he views American Sniper as just a one-dimensional imperialistic portrait of life during war time.
My uncle’s grave in Flint, with the flag I placed there in October. Killed by a sniper in WWII on March 10, 1945. RIP pic.twitter.com/P1eh7OikaI
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 25, 2015
Movies, snipers – any way u cut it, it all comes back to one irrefutable fact: The criminal act committed in our name -the Invasion of Iraq.
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 24, 2015
Please Follow @HEARourVETERANS A Must Follow For Everyone Who Supports Our Military. #SOT #SOV #PJNET
— HONOR CHRIS KYLE (@HonorChrisKyle) January 26, 2015
What do you think about Howard Dean and his comments about American Sniper and its massive Tea Party audience? Are you an “angry” person who loved the movie about Chris Kyle?
