Anthony Mackie Endorses Trump, Says ‘Black Dudes With Dreadlocks’ Part Of Police Brutality Problem: Twitter Comes Unglued

Well, Anthony Mackie certainly isn’t winning over any new fans lately. Indeed, if social media commentary can be trusted, the Captain America and Avengers star is bleeding away his fan-base with some controversial remarks. First, Anthony Mackie publicly endorsed controversial Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. USA Today reported that the star not only endorsed the highly conservative Trump, Mackie even proclaimed that he’d “100% like to run [Trump’s] campaign.”

“When you look at Trump, he’s an easy sell because you can sell him as the guy who worked his way up from nothing.”

But, did Trump really work his way up from nothing, Anthony Mackie? That depends on your definition of “nothing.” He was the son of a real estate developer and manager who had a privileged education and plenty of opportunities. Far more opportunities and money were at his disposal than most of America’s “lower” and middle class have access to today.

It doesn’t really appear that Anthony Mackie’s fans care about Trump’s beginnings. His endorsement of Trump certainly doesn’t seem to be doing Mackie many favors. Twitter blew up today with disgusted fans who couldn’t contain their anger and disbelief that the star would come out in favor of Trump. The Donald has been less than popular among the millennial, female and minority voting base. Ironically, much of the target Captain America demographic is made up of millennials. This is perhaps something Anthony Mackie should have kept in mind before coming out in support of Trump in such a public way.

To add insult to injury, Mackie also stoked new anger when some of his past statements got some new press. He made waves by stating that “black men with dreadlocks” are part of the police brutality problem. Gossip Cop has reported that Anthony Mackie made the shocking claims during a conversation with his young nephew, who was considering growing out some dreadlocks himself. The report originated at the beginning of 2015. When Anthony Mackie came out in support of Trump, some of his old words and positions seemed to get some new life. Roughly 12,000 tweets centered around “black men with dreadlocks” were sent out in the wake of his Trump endorsement.

“Like my nephew wanted to grow dreadlocks. I’m like fine, I’ll sit you down and I’ll watch ‘The First 48? with you and everybody you see on that show, that’s doing something wrong, they’re black dudes with dreadlocks.”

It definitely seems like some folks are dredging up the past, but when you get involved in politics, it’s not unusual for the words you said last year or in the last decade to come back to haunt you.

Hip Hop Wired may have said it best. When news dropped that Anthony Mackie publicly endorsed Trump, the publication released an article indicating that the star’s endorsement of the reality personality for president led to him being “cancelled by black Twitter.” While the statement might be a little less than politically correct, it does seem to be the case. Supporters of Mackie, who were put off by his January statements about black men with dreadlocks, have seemed to let that slip go, but with some prejudice. His open support of a presidential candidate who is proudly the antithesis of the values of his fan base seems to have been the straw that broke Anthony Mackie’s back. Or, at least the one that has destroyed his social media presence, if today’s barrage of angry tweets is any indication.

The black apocalypse will have Raven-Symone, Anthony Mackie, Stacy Dash and Don Lemon as the four horsemen. Can't nobody tell me different.

— Aiah Samba (@Dualityman81) October 19, 2015

Many of the (former) fans of Anthony Mackie were more than happy to give the star some advice, in addition to their criticism, as they flounced from his social media shadow.

While the continued fallout of Mackie’s political endorsement remains to be seen, his words have brought the star some attention. There are many cliches and sayings about any publicity being “good” publicity. I guess we’ll see, and Anthony Mackie can only hope that is the case at this point.

What do you think? Should a star’s political endorsement be a potential career killer? Did Anthony Mackie cross the line?

[Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images]