In the run-up to the Republican National Convention last month, Donald Trump envisioned an all-star lineup, featuring “A-List celebrities” and athletic “champions,” all of whom would be eager to celebrate the GOP candidate’s nomination.
That didn’t work out too well. Scott Baio and some underwear model whose name I’ve forgotten delivered convention speeches, prompting more ridicule than acclaim, but A-listers were nowhere to be found.
Soon after, reflecting on the underwhelming lineup in Cleveland, Trump delivered one of the year’s most unintentionally hilarious lines: “I wasn’t looking for star power [at the convention]; I was looking for policy.” No, seriously, that’s what he said.
A month later, the Republican evidently still has celebrities on his mind.
Donald Trump apparently does not think Justin Timberlake is bringing sexy back.Speaking at a rally in Tampa on Wednesday, Trump offered his take on Hillary Clinton’s supporters: “The only people enthusiastic about her campaign are Hollywood celebrities, in many cases celebrities that aren’t very hot anymore.”
Is this really the fight Trump wants to pick? The “hotness” of Clinton’s celebrity backers?
I’ll concede that I don’t keep up much on pop culture, but TPM’s report on this noted, “Among the not ‘very hot’ celebrities supporting Clinton are Beyonce, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Kerry Washington and George Clooney.”
USA Today, which noted that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel hosted a fundraiser for Clinton yesterday, added that Clinton’s nominating convention also “featured appearances by Meryl Streep, Katy Perry, Paul Simon, Lena Dunham and Tony Goldwyn, among others.”
OK, but can any of these folks match Jon Voight’s and James Woods’ cultural footprint?
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."