Scott Baio to Liberals Scared of Trump’s Presidency: ‘Grow Up’

Scott Baio supports Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Scott Baio doesn’t have much sympathy for Hollywood liberals horrified by the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.

“Grow up,” he says in the new inauguration issue of Variety. “I was nervous for eight years with Obama. I had to suck it up and deal with it. Do the same, and maybe your country will be a better place than it was.”

JAKE CHESSUM for Variety

The “Charles in Charge” and “Happy Days” star is part of a small but vocal band of entertainment-industry conservatives. While most actors threw their support behind Hillary Clinton, Baio was an enthusiastic Trump surrogate, tweeting about the candidate and speaking on his behalf at the Republican National Convention.

“He’s a fighter, and he won’t let anything slide,” says Baio. “So many Republican nominees always feel like they want to stay above the fray, and they get maligned and crushed with negative publicity, and they don’t do anything about it.”

Baio has high hopes for the new administration. He wants Trump to make good on his promises to build a wall along the Mexican border, lower taxes, and defeat ISIS.

He endorses Trump’s habit of striking back at his opponents on Twitter; the actor sees the platform as a necessary tool to get around a media he sees as biased against the president-elect. He hopes Trump will continue using social media when he’s in the White House.

“He’s a fighter, and he won’t let anything slide.”

Scott Baio

“It got him where he is, and why not use every single tool that you have to get your agenda going?” Baio posits.

He also has little taste for what he sees as the coddling of a rising generation of Americans. “These young people out there, I hope they learn from Trump that hard work gets you what you want and what you need. It’s not about going to safe spaces and wearing a safety pin and hugging a puppy. The world is going to kick your ass when you get out of school, and you better be ready for it.”

In Trump, he sees not only a successful businessman but a man with whom you could grab the proverbial beer.

“He’s just a guy,” Baio says. “He grabs you. Holds you. He puts his arm around you. Talks like people talk. It’s like talking to a guy at a restaurant or a bar or the cigar store I go to.”

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