Sarah Silverman: ‘For a Lot of People, This Is the Great Depression’

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Daniel Nussbaum

Sarah Silverman believes that for many Americans, the country under a Donald Trump presidency resembles the country as it was in the midst of the Great Depression, only worse.

The progressive comedian took to Twitter on Wednesday to share her thoughts about Trump, whose candidacy she vehemently opposed during his campaign.

“For a lot of people, this is the Great Depression, but this time it’s emotional & physical,” Silverman wrote. “Our bodies r breaking down w fear & rage…”

In follow-up tweets, Silverman wrote that those feelings are what much of the middle class has been experiencing in the country.

“Until we can try to understand that & approach w as much love as possible whilst w zero tolerance for hate&bigotry, change can’t happen Yo [sic],” she added.

While the America of today is certainly nowhere near the depths in which it found itself in the Great Depression (with a near 25 percent unemployment rate at its peak in 1933), the 45-year-old actress and comedian was likely disappointed by the results of last week’s election.

Silverman was one of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s earliest and most vocal celebrity supporters during the Democratic primary, and later shifted her support to eventual Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Silverman spoke in support of Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July, where she memorably told disaffected Sanders supporters to “stop being ridiculous” and get behind Clinton.

Silverman wrote to a follower on Wednesday to say that it was Bernie Sanders’s wife, Jane, who had asked her to speak in support of Clinton at the DNC.

“I did it 4 him,” she explained.

Silverman also tweeted to Trump himself, urging him to listen to the people across the country who oppose his candidacy. Since the Republican businessman’s victory earlier this month, demonstrators have taken to the streets in New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, San Francisco and other cities in protest, sometimes violently.

Silverman also urged Trump to reconsider his “bigoted yes men.”

 

Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum

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