Looks like President Trump did indeed watch the Academy Awards — or, at least, he didn’t miss the blanket coverage of a massive blunder that erroneously named “La La Land” the Best Picture over “Moonlight.”
In a chat with conservative website Breitbart, formerly edited by his current senior advisor Steve Bannon, the president criticized the show for being too political.
“I think they were focused so hard on politics that they didn’t get the act together at the end,” Trump said.
“It was a little sad. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars. It didn’t feel like a very glamorous evening. I’ve been to the Oscars. There was something very special missing, and then to end that way was sad,” he continued.
While the Best Picture disaster has commanded the news cycle since the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted ceremony ended, the first three hours and 45 minutes of the telecast were full of references to Trump’s administration — from Kimmel’s tongue-in-cheek celebration of Meryl Streep’s “mediocrity,” to some strong words from “migrant worker” Gael Garcia Bernal to the plain and powerful statement from Asghar Farhadi decrying Trump’s Muslim travel ban.
Two days before the ceremony, Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that his boss did not intend to watch the show and would instead host a dinner party for the nation’s governors.
Spicer also said that he doesn’t know why actors have suddenly taken to criticizing the president while accepting awards this season. “I have no idea. It’s a free country,” he said. “I think Hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions.”