Most people would instinctively dismiss the idea that a Hollywood veteran of more than 50 films could be a President Trump supporter. But Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight has always stood out in that regard, and in an emotional interview with Fox News’ Mark Levin on Sunday he choked up while recounting a heartfelt chat he had with a conservative actress concerning the 45th president.
During the Levin interview, Voight related that he and the actress found Trump to be a godsend: “She was just saying, ‘Thank God,’ and I was saying ‘Thank God,’ and one of the reasons I can say ‘Thank God’ is because I know He’s there for us all.” Voight went on to describe the disparities between America’s founding and the foundings of communist nations, asserting that Karl Marx “eliminated God from the picture” in his philosophy.
Voight’s sincerity and acting prominence, however, weren’t enough to protect him from a typical check-out-this-batty-right-winger spotlight from the mainstream media.
Newsweek reporter Benjamin Fearnow chose to make a spectacle out of the interview on Monday in an article with the headline: “WATCH: JON VOIGHT CRIES ON FOX NEWS OVER 'OUR MAN' DONALD TRUMP, 'THANK GOD'”.
From the very headline, the article is misleading. Voight, while clearly moved by his recollection, never broke into tears and appeared to use the Trump talk as more of a segue into a broader discussion about the role of religion in America’s founding (Levin’s show, by the way, focuses on America’s founding principles, not current politicians).
While the interview certainly displayed that Voight has an affinity for our commander-in-chief, Fearnow didn’t bat an eye when claiming that Levin momentarily couldn’t distinguish between Voight’s admiration for God and his admiration for Trump. Quoting Voight and Levin, Fearnow wrote: “‘And one of the reasons I can say 'thank God' is because I know he's there for us all.’ ‘God,’ Levin says, clarifying the distinction from President Trump.” Apparently Fearnow decided Voight was conferring divine attributes on the president.
Selective coverage such as this ignores celebrities on the left who regularly spew profanity-laced vitriol at the president that is hundreds of times worse than any criticism Voight has ever leveled at former president Barack Obama (or even Karl Marx, for that matter). One need only look to Judd Apatow’s tweets or Eminem’s freestyle at the BET Awards for evidence of that.
Media and celebrity fueled hatred of Trump creates an atmosphere where consumers of entertainment are alienated through the rationalization of inflammatory and obscene comments. For producers of media who are not in lockstep with leftist ideals, that same atmosphere is simply inhospitable.
