A pair of Hollywood stars went at each other’s throats over politics as TV actress and Twitter warrior Debra Messing criticized film star Susan Sarandon for crediting Donald Trump with inspiring more women and minorities to run for office.
Messing’s ire was raised from a tweet touting Variety magazine’s interview with Sarandon — who campaigned for Bernie Sanders in 2016. Sarandon noted in her interview that Trump has been so bad that he is inspiring women to run for office to oppose his policies. But the Variety tweet was, perhaps, a tad misleading by saying, “Donald Trump has, if anything, inspired more women and people of color to run for office, says actress Susan Sarandon.”
Donald Trump has, if anything, inspired more women and people of color to run for office, says actress Susan Sarandon #VarietyStudio presented by @att at #TIFF18 pic.twitter.com/eVIsI9kAWe
— Variety (@Variety) September 12, 2018
The tweet upset Messing who was incensed that Sarandon was giving Trump credit for something. The Will & Grace actress, who is usually profane and hateful on Twitter, jumped to her social media account to tell Sarandon to “STFU.”
“STFU SUSAN. Oh yes, PLEASE let’s give Trump CREDIT,” Messing blurted. “I mean how else are you able to walk out on the street. Convince yourself that that this CATASTROPHE of a President who you said was better that HRC IS NOT ripping children away from parents seeking asylum, holding children.”
STFU SUSAN. Oh yes, PLEASE let’s give Trump CREDIT. I mean how else are you able to walk out on the street. Convince yourself that that this CATASTROPHE of a President who you said was better that HRC IS NOT ripping children away from parents seeking asylum, holding children https://t.co/UuXLLdahaB
— Debra Messing (@DebraMessing) September 12, 2018
From there, Messing went on an extended rant with four more tweets attacking Trump for creating “internment camps,” “destroying the environment,” ruining the courts, and a host of other wild accusations.
Sarandon did reply to Messing’s rant telling the TV actress to get a grip.
“Debs, before you get yourself all self-righteous try clicking on the video and listening to what I actually say, not @Variety’s clickbait headline, which btw has no quotation marks. That’s a clue,” Sarandon tweeted.
Debs, before you get yourself all self-righteous try clicking on the video and listening to what I actually say, not @Variety's clickbait headline, which btw has no quotation marks. That’s a clue… https://t.co/pAIxBDNW5G
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) September 12, 2018
Indeed, it does appear that Messing completely missed Sarandon’s actual point and perhaps only read the Variety tweet without actually listening to Sarandon’s comments. In the video accompanying the Variety tweet, Sarandon said that Trump has “unintentionally energized” women and minorities to run for office. The “credit” she was giving Trump was a backhanded compliment, not a mark of positive accomplishment.
Sarandon infuriated many in Hollywood for refusing to support Hillary Clinton in 2016, even after her favored candidate, Bernie Sanders, lost the primary race for the Democrat Party nomination for president. Sarandon was a leading voice accusing the Democrat Party of rigging the primaries to make sure Bernie Sanders lost. And it turned out that Sarandon was right.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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