After intense backlash and threats over his Twitter “rant” against President Donald Trump, Jim Gaffigan defended himself and his words on Sunday, saying he “had no choice” but to speak up.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Gaffigan, an entertainer known for more family-based content, explained that he knows his audience isn’t interested in hearing about politics from him and considers him a “clean Catholic comedian.” He made it clear he has never felt he has the power to sway voters. However, he said felt he must speak up after watching Trump “lie” while speaking at the Republican National Convention Thursday.
“So if I believe I won’t sway any voters, why speak out like I did? Honestly, I feel I had no choice at this point. I think Trump is ruining and possibly has already ruined my country. … I feel a responsibility to coming generations, my children but selfishly I didn’t want to explain to my grandchildren that I didn’t fight to stop Trump. Maybe they will see that I stood up for decency, rule of law, and equality. That’s way more important to me than selling out an arena,” he said after calling the president “a great salesman.”
He addressed the threats he’s received, too, attaching an image of a commenter telling him, “You’ll be looking over your shoulder the rest of your life.”
“The image that is connected to this post is one of the many messages I received that are quasi threatening or flat out threatening,” he wrote. “I have friends that have received much worse and I’m sure this guy is just engaging in some bluster. We all know Trump is not a unifier but remember he and his cronies stoke hatred and violence. He may say he is the Law and Order candidate, but he wants chaos so can pretend to provide security.”
This was the second time Gaffigan addressed the fallout. He wrote Saturday he had no regrets about the tweetstorm.
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