Spike Lee is sharply criticizing President Donald Trump’s response to the nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
“He will go down in history as the worst president of the United States of America,” Lee told GQ U.K. in a June 7 interview. “If this guy wins, the world is in peril. Not just the United States of America. The world.”
The acclaimed filmmaker spoke with the publication to discuss his latest film Da 5 Bloods, about four African American veterans who return to Vietnam in search of the remains of their fallen leader. In the movie, a character refers to “that Klansman in the Oval Office.”
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When asked if that’s how he would refer to Trump, Lee said “he has those tendencies.”
Citing the deadly 2017 white supremacist rally in Virginia, Lee added: “He sided with the Klan in Charlottesville. He’s sympathetic to their cause.”
Lee also railed against Trump’s staged photo-op in front of a Washington, D.C. church in which protesters were reportedly tear gassed to clear a path for him to cross the street.
“The man looked very uncomfortable holding the bible. And the Bible looked uncomfortable being held by him,” Lee said.
“He was on some Gen. George Patton, John Wayne, bullshit! I mean, it was unbelievable. The whole thing was staged. You know, tear gas a peaceful crowd, give a speech and then walk from the White House to the church,” he added.
Though the director said racism didn’t start with Trump, he blamed him for the escalating racial tensions in the country.
“I’m not trying to get him off the hook. He’s turned it up. He’s turned up the flames,” Lee added.
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