Filmmaker, actor and outspoken Donald Trump detractor Rob Reiner says it is impossible to level with the Republican presidential nominee’s bigoted supporters, who are “mostly white males who don’t have college degrees.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor said that there’s “a very serious strain of racism” that runs through those supporting the Republican presidential nominee.
“And that’s a kind of disturbing thing, and I don’t think you ever reach those people. I think that they’re impossible to turn around. It’s very disturbing because a lot of these racist ideas have kind of been dormant for a while, and he’s given voice to them — he’s kind of unearthed it. And the thing that’s most disturbing is to discover that there’s so many people that still hold those views,” Reiner said.
Reiner goes onto suggest that Trump supporters feel “threatened” by America’s racial diversity.
“If it isn’t overt racism, it’s this kind of a desperate attempt at holding on to some version of America that they think was there once. They’re really threatened by our diversity, and what’s so great about the experiment of democracy is that it celebrates diversity and diversity is what makes it strong,” he said.
This line of attack from Reiner is not new. The two-time Emmy award winner has been bashing Trump supporters for some time. Last month, Reiner appeared on CNN Tonight and said the real danger in Trump’s words are that his followers “have a violent nature, and a violent streak.”
The former All in the Family star’s disdain for Trump supporters is, however, rivaled only by his hatred for the White House hopeful himself.
In an appearance on MSNBC in July, Reiner called Trump “the single most unqualified person ever to run for president in my lifetime.”
Reiner, who also told THR that the iconic character Archie Bunker would be a Trump supporter, is an enthusiastic supporter of Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2016 race.
“I’ve known Hillary Clinton almost 25 years, and she’s incredibly dedicated and passionate about wanting to make things better and wanting to move thing forward,” he said. “She’s a real policy wonk. She can work across the aisle. She’s good at it. Once she has a job, Republicans like her because she does listen and figures out ways to forge consensus.”
Reiner said it’s his “dream that she wins the White House,” and also admitted that “it may just be pie-in-the sky, but that’s my hope.”
Asked if there’s anything that could keep Hillary from winning in November, Reiner said, “The only thing I could think of is some Julian Assange thing,” referencing the notorious WikiLeaks founder, whose infamous non-profit publisher of corporate and secret government documents recently released scores of emails that embarrassed the Democratic National Committee and resulted in the resignation of former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
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