President Donald Trump won’t be watching the Oscars on Sunday night, due to what his press secretary characterized as a combination of being too busy and apathy for the awards show in general. But what about Trump’s voter base?
“I think Hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions, and I’ve got to be honest with you, I think the president will be hosting the Governors’ Ball that night,” Press Secretary Sean Spicer said when asked if Trump would be watching the Oscars. “Mrs. Trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event. And the first lady’s put a lot of time into this event, in welcoming our nation’s governors to the capital, and I have a feeling that’s where the president and first lady are going to be focused on Sunday night.”
Despite his reality show background, Hollywood and Trump haven’t been on the same wavelength lately. Several prominent celebrities have spoken out against the president, most notably Meryl Streep in her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes.
“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 kinda gives permission for other people to do the same thing,” she said. “Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence. And when the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.”
It’s far from the first time one of the awards shows got political. The Oscars has a long history of different celebrities speaking for causes they support or oppose. But many of Trump’s voters voiced irritation at her speech on social media, and according to a new poll many of them aren’t planning to put up with any more political speech at the awards.
A full two-thirds of Trump supporters say they have turned off their TVs because of an actor giving a politically-charged speech. The National Research Group poll, which surveyed 800 people – half voters for Hillary Clinton, the other half for Trump – found 19 percent of Clinton voters did the same.
Additionally, 44 percent of Trump voters said awards speeches are too political, while Clinton supporters want more politics at the awards shows. The only thing the two sides seem to agree on is that the speeches don’t change anything – only a quarter of people on both sides said their opinion has been changed by a celebrity acceptance speech.
Trump seemed to have a problem with the Oscars even before he started his political career. He tweeted criticism of the awards in multiple years but voiced particular dislike for the show in 2014 in a series of tweets.