A new survey shows that celebrities don’t exactly rock the vote these days.
The report says a majority of Americans aren’t swayed by a star’s political recommendations, with 65 percent of respondents saying political pronouncements from Hollywood stars have no bearing on their decisions at the ballot box.
Twenty-four percent said endorsements would make them less likely to vote for a particular candidate, while 11 percent said the celebrity endorsements made them more likely to vote a certain way.
Maybe the “concentration camp” rhetoric coming from La La Land helps explain why.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez kicked off the morally repugnant comparison. She said some of the illegal immigrant detention centers along the U.S. side of the southern border were “concentration camps.” In case anyone missed the Holocaust comparison, she later uttered the phrase “never again.” That term is used in connection to Hitler’s plan to wipe the Jews off the planet.
Rather than reject the rhetoric, several stars doubled down on it.
Actress Rosanna Arquette actually sounded more unhinged that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. “Every minute, The United States of America is abusing children at the border .they are detained in cruel and unsafe conditions,” Arquette said. “these concentration camps are set up to dehumanize them. This is immoral and barbaric. This is what the The [sic] trump administration stands for.”
Rosie O’Donnell, who never passed up a chance to feud with President Trump, also chimed in with the “Concentration Camp” charge.
“General Hospital” star Nancy Lee Grahn shared an alarming picture on Twitter meant to shame Team Trump about the conditions at a U.S. based camp for illegal immigrant detainees. The picture showed people sleeping on concrete floors.
Only Grahn, or someone before her, had cropped the image in question to remove the time stamp. The photograph is from 2015 … during the Obama administration.
Neither Hollywood nor the press rose up in fury about the conditions at the time.
Jeffrey Wright, currently starring in HBO’s “Westworld,” also ran with the camp theme, one the Holocaust Museum is trying to squash for obvious reasons.
Here’s Wright squabbling with Rep. Steve King on Twitter over the issue: “Ok. Now, run check out those concentration camps the US gov is operating now. While you’re south, head to the new lynching museum in Alabama. And ever heard of Native Americans? Also, STFU.”
Far-left comic George Lopez managed to bungle the issue, too, by attacking the more than just the President. The comedian sent out a Tweet bringing Trump’s family into the debate.
“Uh , @icegov “ if your [sic] listening “ you can find these immigrants at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave – Signed Enrique Enpanada the third,” Lopez wrote on Instagram, accompanied by a video describing four of Trump’s children as “anchor babies” due to their foreign-born mothers.
The children in question, including 13 year old Barron Trump, do not fit that description.
The H
ollywood debate on the immigration issue got so heated a measure of sanity came from an unlikely source. Bill Maher loathes President Trump. He’s also as liberal as any modern-day celebrity. Still, Maher tapped the brakes on the concentration camp comparisons.
The subject came up on a recent episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.” Rather than go with the far-left flow, Maher tried to put an end to the gross characterization. “…there are certain words that we just associate with something truly at the ultimate end of horrendous. Holocaust just means a big fire, but we don’t use the word, hey, let’s go have a holocaust, I’ll bring the wieners.”
Pithy, and to the point.
His panel roared back in defiance, naturally.
Dan Savage, who once boasted of licking a doorknob in order to make a Republican sick, played the Hitler card in response.
“The concentration camps came first, it was a step on the road to the death camps… we’re on the road to fascism, and death camps is an aspect of fascism,” Savage said.
You tried, Bill.
The assembled stars couldn’t resist pouncing on Ocasio-Cortez’s unhinged attack line, which members of the media scurried to defend.
Now, Americans have a fresh reason not to trust the political musings that flow from Hollywood. Chances are they’ll have even more reasons to distrust Celebrity, Inc. between now and Election Day 2020.
Christian Toto is the editor of the Colorado-based HollywoodInToto.com.
