Ah yes, another Hollywood sermon from the hilltop — this time featuring Richard Gere, who’s traded in the red carpet for the moral pulpit once again, firing off yet another broadside at Donald Trump.
During an interview with Variety, ostensibly about his new film project on the Dalai Lama, Gere couldn’t help but veer off the script and take yet another swing at the former president. Because of course he did.
Let’s set the scene: Gere, executive producer of Wisdom of Happiness, claims his Dalai Lama documentary is a sort of spiritual antidote to the “deep sickness” afflicting modern society — and guess who he blames for that illness? You guessed it.
Donald J. Trump. According to Gere, Trump has somehow managed to corrupt even the most basic sense of kindness in society. Yes, the same society where Gere’s own political side regularly brands half the country as fascists.
He didn’t stop there. Gere went on to suggest that Trump would be unmoved by the Dalai Lama’s message — that the teachings of one of the world’s most peaceful religious figures wouldn’t even register. He said, “I don’t know how you explain what he has done to this country.”
The same country, by the way, that saw record-low unemployment, economic growth, and a pushback on global entanglements during Trump’s first term — but let’s not let facts interfere with Hollywood outrage.
And while Gere paints Trump as the root of all societal decay, he conveniently ignores the Dalai Lama’s own 2016 statements warning Europe about accepting too many refugees and maintaining cultural balance — stances that sound eerily similar to, well, Trump’s. But in this version of reality, nuance takes a backseat to virtue signaling.
Gere’s critique is nothing new. He’s called Trump a thug, a bully, and claimed Trump’s base is a “dark presence” threatening America’s soul.
But here’s the irony: while preaching kindness and unity, he slings labels and disdain at millions of Americans who simply don’t agree with his political views.
For some reason, the elite circles of entertainment still think they’re the moral compass for the rest of the country — and they’re shocked, shocked, when people stop listening. Richard Gere might find spiritual guidance in the Dalai Lama, but when it comes to political clarity, his message sounds more like a broken record stuck in 2016.
