'The Apprentice' Star Jeremy Strong Defends CNN, Compares Trump to Stalin and Mao in Cannes Rant
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Actor Jeremy Strong compared former President Donald Trump to Stalin and Mao and even defended CNN, in a statement to the Cannes Film Festival following the world premiere Monday of The Apprentice.
His comment comes after The Apprentice director Ali Abbasi smeared Trump as a fascist following the screening.
Jeremy Strong, who plays Trump mentor Roy Cohn in the movie, is appearing in a Broadway production of Ibsen's Enemy of the People and couldn't attend the premiere.
In a statement read aloud by Abbasi during a press conference on Tuesday, the actor used the play's title to attack Trump.
“'Enemy of the people' is a phrase that has been used by Stalin, Mao, by Goebbels, and most recently by Donald Trump who denounces the free press and calls CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the New York Times, fake news media,” he said.
Mensagem enviada por Jeremy Strong que nao pôde participar da coletiva nem da premiere do filme ontem a noite. #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/cC34C6RxDv
— Fabi @ Cannes 2024 (@fabianalr_) May 21, 2024
“We're living in a world where truth is under assault,” he added, before blaming Roy Cohn for his “legacy of lies, of outright denialism, of manipulation, of flagrant disregard for truth.”
Strong didn't mention the mainstream news media's many acts of deception, including the promotion of the Russia collusion hoax and its refusal to cover the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.
The Apprentice, which doesn't have a U.S. distributor, is competing for the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where mainstream media outlets have showered it with praise and adulation, including for actor Sebastian Stan's performance as a young Trump.
The movie dramatizes Trump's rise to power during the 70s, as he becomes a close associate of Roy Cohn. It also portrays Trump’s relationship with his father (Martin Donovan) and first wife, Ivana (Borat 2 actress Maria Bakalova).
In one scene, the movie depicts Trump raping Ivana — an act that Ivana Trump has denied happening.
The Trump campaign said this week it plans to sue the filmmakers.
“We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers,” the Trump campaign’s chief spokesperson Steven Cheung said. “This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.”
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