Oscar winner Meryl Streep
Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep , who campaigned during the recent presidential election for Hillary Clinton, last night let her feelings be known about the behaviour of the president- elect Donald Trump.
Streep's acceptance speech
Accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award for a lifetime of notable work, Streep launched into an attack on Trump ,without ever naming him, during her six minute speech criticizing him for, amongst other things, his grotesque mockery of a disabled reporter during his election campaign.The New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski , has a condition which affects his joint movements.
Miss Streep stated that the mockery " ...sank hooks into my heart , because it did its' job and made its' intended audience laugh and show their teeth."
She expressed concern that someone in such high office should "use their position to bully and if that is the case then we all lose."
Donald Trump rounds on Golden Globes winner
Mr Trump for his part did not let this go without comment and rounded on Miss Streep calling her a " Hillary lover" and in a series of tweets " one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood". He also denied mocking the reporter stating that he was merely making reference to the fact that the reporter seemed nervous and was stuttering.
In a brief telephone interview Trump stated that he was not surprised that he had come under attack from " liberal movie people".
Liberal movie people
He has, during his swift rise to political power, successfully managed to offend many areas of society so it should perhaps be no great surprise that some areas of society who have a very eloquent voice decided to fight back once in a while. He can surely not complain that the " liberal movie people" who comprise , like most areas in the USA , a wide mix of races, religions and beliefs, when given the opportunity have fought back with some considerable panache.
Disrespect invites disrespect
Miss Streep seemed to be most concerned about the example Trump was setting by his behaviour saying that " The instinct to humiliate , when its'modeled by someone powerful filters down into everyone's life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing.Disrespect invites disrespect, violence incites violence"
Trump remains unmoved
Mr Trump, however, was unmoved and tried to put a positive political spin on the attack and said that upcoming the inauguration would be well attended by celebrities , movie and entertainment stars and that " all the dress shops are sold out in Washington. ". Given the round of applause Meryl Streep received for her speech it is hard to see where those stars would come from.