After her memorable 2017 Golden Globes speech in which she called out Donald Trump’s antics without once mentioning his name, the president-elect and his voters fired back at Meryl Streep, condemning her for using her celebrity platform to promote a political agenda. Forgetting, perhaps, that Donald Trump was formerly a celebrity in his own right before running for the nation’s highest office.
Now, before the dust has had time to settle, a new player has joined the controversy: Film director and actor Ron Howard.
Early on the morning of January 9th, Howard tweeted a series of poignant posts praising Streep on her bravery and calling out Donald Trump and his supporters who referred to Streep as an “overrated” Hollywood elitist.
He began by tweeting, “I hope he earns 4 more years thru honorable unselfish leadership & statesmanship. Please Trump, pleasantly surprise the skeptics.”
Moving on, Howard began to address Streep critics and Trump voters alike who appeared to have conveniently left out the fact that the president-elect used his own fame to point out issues that he felt were important. Tweeting, “Trump used his fame to speak out on issues years before he ran 4 office. Why was he allowed & Ms Streep should keep quiet? No hypocrisy pls.”
Several hours later, Ron Howard drew his attention to Trump supporters who prohibited Meryl Streep’s use of “mainstream media lies,” while forgetting that their own presidential candidate spent years spreading false information and fueling unrelenting conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama. Replying to the tweet of a follower, Howard stated, “Trump was a reality tv star spouting criticisms of a president & reinforcing the Birther Lie. but now celebs should b muzzled?”
Howard ended his tweeting spree by calling out the future president and asking him to treat his soon-to-be political position with the respect and dignity that it deserved, and not like the popular television entertainment show that Donald Trump has been a guest on. “Trump takes the bait and calls #MerylStreep overrated? Please Pres-elect. Don’t make this into the WWF which is fun but not presidential.”
After these tweets were sent out, Howard got off of the subject, and so far, Donald Trump has not responded. With his inauguration quickly approaching, he surely has more important things to focus on, now, and in the future.