Artists have to “hold the flag of fact flying” after Donald Trump’s election victory, the legendary Scottish actor Brian Cox has mentioned.
Cox, who performed Logan Roy within the hit HBO collection Succession, additionally mentioned the world has “by no means been in a extra harmful place than it’s in the mean time” as he mirrored on the US election marketing campaign and a second impending Trump presidency.
“As artists now we have to bang the drum, now we have to maintain going,” he mentioned in an interview with the Guardian. “We mustn’t put up with it. That’s why I love individuals like Mark Ruffalo [a longtime advocate for social justice].
“I’m not going to surrender on my criticism of Trump. I feel it behoves artists to not surrender, to maintain the flag of fact flying, as a result of it’s been so abused in recent times.”
Cox went viral on Tuesday night time after making his disdain for Trump identified throughout a digital look on Channel 4 alongside the previous UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
The 78-year-old, who splits his time between London and New York, mentioned he was “acutely depressed” concerning the election and felt like he simply needed to “experience it out”.
Cox mentioned: “There’s most likely no person extra shocked than Trump himself. I feel he was anticipating to speak about voter fraud. However the American individuals have purchased into him, which I discover completely astonishing.
“It’s extraordinary that he has so many Catholic voters. I’m not spiritual in any respect, however I used to be born a Catholic. So I do know concerning the Catholic doctrine and Trump’s sins are unbelievable. How can they presumably rationalise their religion in relationship to him?”
He added: “I’ve obtained two sons in America, I fear about what’s in retailer for them. The one individual Trump cares about is himself. It’s laborious to foretell what he’ll be like.”
Trump acquired the 270 electoral school votes wanted after capturing three battleground states from the Democrats – Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He picked up a small however vital share of Black and Hispanic voters, and made slim beneficial properties with women and men. He additionally succeeded in locking down his historically older, white base of voters, and barely expanded his margins with different teams.
“I have a look at the US and assume it’s a fucking mess,” Cox mentioned. “It doesn’t know who or the place it’s. Trump’s vitriol in direction of Harris throughout the marketing campaign was unbelievable.
“I wasn’t the most important fan of Harris, however I feel she did extremely nicely within the brief time she had. She didn’t have an opportunity, the poor lady, and I blame Biden for that. He was clearly out of it, everyone on the planet noticed it, and he wouldn’t let go. A sort of hubris kicked in. And his hubris has been partly accountable for what’s occurred.”
The stage and display screen actor, who has quite a few accolades beneath his belt together with two Laurence Olivier awards, an Emmy and a Golden Globe, mentioned the Democrats have been additionally hamstrung by the struggle within the Center East.
Cox mentioned: “Biden was in his final time period, he might have executed much more about that. What’s occurring in Gaza is a genocide, there’s no query about it. It’s horrific. But it surely’s not going to get any higher beneath Trump, as a result of he’s an excellent buddy of Netanyahu, so who’s going to be saying ‘cease it’ now, ‘behave your self’?”
He added: “I feel the world has by no means been in a extra harmful place than it’s in the mean time.”
Cox additionally spoke about different crises he believed Individuals could be going through, together with reproductive rights and the local weather disaster.
“Ladies are being handled as second-class residents in America and it has to cease, it’s gone on for a lot too lengthy,” he mentioned. “No person needs to be discussing what a girl ought to do together with her physique, solely they need to advocate for what occurs to their physique. How dare we make that assumption? It’s so retrograde.”
He added: “I can’t imagine I’m dwelling within the twenty first century, as a result of we don’t appear to progress as human beings. We appear to make the identical mistake time and time once more.
“The world’s in deep shit like by no means earlier than. Trump’s not going to do something concerning the local weather disaster as a result of he doesn’t imagine it, irrespective of the proof.
Cox was additionally insistent that he would “by no means play Trump”. He mentioned: “I couldn’t play him for all of the tea in China, there’s no advantage in him.”
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