Actor and longtime human rights activist Richard Gere delivered a blistering condemnation of Donald Trump while speaking at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway on Tuesday, where he helped present the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent.
“We’re living in the darkest moment that I’ve experienced on this planet,” said the “Pretty Woman” star, who is no stranger to calling out Trump.
“Whoever thought America could turn like this? Whoever thought that a maniac like this would be president of the United States?” he added.
Watch Gere’s full commentary on YouTube.
Gere accused Trump of rapidly dismantling the country from the moment he reentered the White House and laid at least some of the blame on ordinary citizens who “went to sleep,” “didn’t care,” “didn’t vote” and “didn’t really listen.”
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While stressing that he did not vote for Trump, Gere said he bears some responsibility for the president’s return to power.
“I didn’t do enough work to skillfully convince people around me, close to me, not close to me, that this was insane to elect this person as president of the United States,” he said.
The actor then drew a stark historical comparison, recalling a recent visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Dachau in Germany.
There, he said, he viewed exhibits documenting “the transformation of German society and German government” in the 1930s and “how quickly it happened there.”
“Good people turned into monsters,” Gere said.
“And I saw this process in the U.S.,” he added, before urging people to “be vigilant” against the fast-moving ascendance of a “dictatorship of monsters.”
“We can’t sit back and go, ‘Ah, life is good. I’m fine. I’ve got food. I got money. Blah blah blah. I got my house. I got another car. I’m thinking about this. I’m okay. I know he’s a bad guy, but it’s okay,’” he said.
“But it’s not OK,” Gere added. “It’s not OK. It’s never OK.”
