Actor Robert Redford penned an op-ed Tuesday calling the Trump administration a “monarchy in disguise” and stressing the importance of preserving U.S. democracy by voting the president out next year.
“We’re up against a crisis I never thought I’d see in my lifetime: a dictator-like attack by President Donald Trump on everything this country stands for,” the 83-year-old Oscar winner and Sundance Film Festival founder wrote for NBC News.
“As last week’s impeachment hearings made clear, our shared tolerance and respect for the truth, our sacred rule of law, our essential freedom of the press and our precious freedoms of speech — all have been threatened by a single man,” he continued.
Mr. Redford wrote that while he wanted to give Mr. Trump the benefit of the doubt in the beginning, he was “almost instantly” alarmed by the president’s behavior once in office. He argued that it’s “time for Trump to go” as well as the Republican lawmakers who have stood behind him.
“Tonight it pains me to watch what is happening to our country,” he wrote. “Growing up as a child during World War II, I watched a united America defend itself against the threat of fascism. I watched this again, during the Watergate crisis, when our democracy was threatened. And again, when terrorists turned our world upside down.
“During those times of crises, Congress came together, and our leaders came together. Politicians from both sides rose to defend our founding principles and the values that make us a global leader and a philosophical beacon of hope for all those seeking their own freedoms,” he continued. “What is happening, right now, is so deeply disturbing that instead of the United States of America, we are now defined as the Divided States of America. Leaders on both sides lack the fundamental courage to cross political aisles on behalf of what is good for the American people.”
Mr. Redford went on to call the Trump administration a “monarchy in disguise” that has been so “exhausting and chaotic” that it’s caused many Americans to tune out.
“But this is it,” he warned. “There are only 11 months left before the presidential election; 11 months before we get our one real chance to right this ship and change the course of disaster that lies before us.”
