The right might not agree with most of what Hollywood celebrities say regarding politics, but there’s one thing they can agree on: The media underestimated voters’ desire for change from the status quo this election.
On MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes Wednesday night, Hayes found an unlikely critic of the media and Democrats in actress Susan Sarandon, who openly campaigned for Bernie Sanders and criticized Hillary Clinton during the primaries. Sarandon was asked to defend a comment she made on Hayes show last March, saying that “some people” viewed Trump as a revolutionary who would change things up. Admitting she wasn’t a fan of Hillary Clinton, Sarandon added, “If you think that it’s pragmatic to shore up the status quo right now, then you're not in touch with the status quo.”
On his Wednesday night show, Hayes asked her to defend this comment. Sarandon repeated what she said before in a modified way.
HAYES: What do you think of that now?
SARANDON: I think if you’re not in touch with the status quo, you’re going to lose. I mean, if you’re not--if you're arguing for shoring up the status quo then when America is asking for change then you're going to have a difficult time.
Hayes asked again, “Do you feel that you properly appreciated what a Donald Trump presidency would be?”
Sarandon wouldn’t take the bait, saying that she felt it was a waste of time and energy to “analyze” and “blame people” for what they said or did prior to the election.
“Really? That’s where we want to spend our time and energy?” she asked, incredulously.
“What we have now is a populace that is awake,” Sarandon added, before talking about her cause, the Dakota Pipeline, with fellow guest environmental rights filmmaker Josh Fox.
“You consider yourself a journalist, right?” Sarandon asked Hayes, point-blank. “Allow people to understand what’s happening,” she said.
Later on Hayes tried again to get Sarandon to apologize for not campaigning for Hillary.
HAYES: Can you look me in the eyes, both of you, and say yes, 24 days in the Trump Administration this is about what I expected it would be?
Sarandon rolled her eyes and asked, “What is the point of even saying that?”
HAYES: I'm just asking you that. I'm asking you -- we all make judgments about what the choices are and I’m asking you, can you look me in the eyes and say yeah, this is about what I thought it would be.
SARANDON: Can you look me in the eyes and tell me you are doing your job to cover these issues completely?
Hayes responded quickly, “Yes, I can!” Sarandon went on to criticize the media for not talking about pipeline explosions while Josh Fox criticized Democrats for not having the guts to vote for progressive issues, saying that is why they lost the election.
“Donald Trump is a referendum on Obama’s legacy for progressives,” he began.
Sarandon ended by saying the “good thing” about the “horrible thing” of having Trump in office was that people were “awake” and “participating” in causes they care about.
SARANDON: The good thing about this horrible thing of having Trump is that people are awake and they're participating and they're having town meetings and they're having -- going to people's doorsteps and saying "What have you done?" On so many levels because it's really visible now.
