‘House Of Cards’ Star Kevin Spacey Attacks ‘Reality Television President’ Donald Trump
Kevin Spacey has drawn a good deal of critical acclaim for his role as President Frank Underwood in Netflix’s political drama House of Cards. However, on Monday night, the show’s lead star threw shade at current U.S. President Donald Trump who he referred to as a “reality television president.”
According to Digital Spy, Spacey was appearing on The One Show in the United Kingdom when he was asked about politics, both in reference to House of Cards and the current administration. The show’s host asked Spacey whether the show struggles to come up with stories as “compelling” as the current political landscape. However, Spacey admitted that House of Cards has never tried to compete with the real world, instead providing politics within an alternate reality. In his comments, he also appeared to attack President Trump.
“We’ve never felt an obligation to compete with the real world,” he said. “We believe that we’re an alternate universe – we’re the alternative reality president, as opposed to the reality television president.”
That being said, Spacey did admit that some ideas from the show are often echoed in the real world. Spacey spoke of how in the past, in the time between a season’s filming and it’s release, ideas that have been explored in the season can crop up in the real world. Spacey said that people often think the show stole its ideas from the headlines, when it’s actually the other way round.
Thanks for joining us on the green sofas tonight @KevinSpacey At least it was an air con studio- #heatwave2017 ! #TheOneShow @MissAlexjones pic.twitter.com/TCEHMU7lDQ
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) June 20, 2017
In the past, Spacey’s House of Cards co-star Robin Wright has joked that the show is running out of ideas because of the Trump administration. According to the Guardian, Wright accused the president of stealing all of the show’s good ideas. She commented that whilst seasons filmed during the Obama administration were always a political fantasy, that isn’t always the case with Trump.
Spacey has long been a vocal critic of Donald Trump, especially during the 2016 presidential election. However, that’s no surprise considering that much like his onscreen character, Frank Underwood, Spacey is a Democrat. He’s also a close friend of Former President Bill Clinton, and husband to Donald Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton.
Watch: @KevinSpacey shows off Johnny Carson, Bill Clinton impressions at the #TonyAwards https://t.co/WFX1U5Uh7d pic.twitter.com/yEGIof1Bi9
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 12, 2017
According to the Huffington Post, Spacey appeared onstage wearing a white-haired wig and presidential red tie appearing to imitate Bill Clinton at this year’s Tony Awards. During his appearance, Spacey made a joke at Hillary Clinton’s expense, seemingly referring to the scandal relating to her use of a private email server whilst Secretary of State.
“We’ve had some exciting young performers this season,” Spacey told the audience as Clinton. “Ben Platt was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. That’s very impressive. I was on that list a couple times, but, Ben, you know who you bumped off that list? My wife.”
“Now, between you and me, you might be a better singer,” he continued. “But after seeing your show, there’s no doubt that Hillary is much better at creating fake email accounts than you.”
“I’m going to get in trouble when I get home.”
[Featured Image by Theo Wargo/Getty Images]
