Julia Louis-Dreyfus calls Trump 'a complete moron, start to finish'

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment

As Julia Louis-Dreyfus ends her run playing inept, narcissistic president Selina Meyer on Veep, she’s sharing her thoughts on the real commander in chief, and other topics, in this week’s Time magazine cover story.

Revealing what she learned about politicians during her seven-year run on the show — which saw her spending time with many of them, including Joe Biden and Mitt Romney, for research — she said, “They’re just people. That’s all. Which is in one way comforting, and in another quite terrifying, given all the responsibility that they carry.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, at the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s cabaret in October, talks of Donald Trump, Louis C.K. and Al Franken. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, at the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s cabaret in October, talks of Donald Trump, Louis C.K. and Al Franken. (Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Although she believes most are trying to do the right thing, she wouldn’t say that about Donald Trump. “He’d be funny if he didn’t have the power he has,” she told the magazine. “He’s sort of a pretend, fake president. He’s a complete moron, start to finish.”

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Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@officialjld) has always demanded to be taken seriously. For three decades, she has been portraying #funny, self-centered #women who are compelling despite often being ill-behaved. Her capstone creation Selina Meyer, the politician she plays on @veephbo, pushes the envelope furthest: the accidental President’s megalomania, and her flamboyant vulgarity, have helped #Veep break awards records. (“I was the game changer!” Selina yells in a scene from the upcoming season, its seventh and final, which debuts March 31. “I took a dump on the glass ceiling!”) The show has made Louis-Dreyfus, 58, arguably the most decorated #television comedy actress in history. But over the course of her career, Louis-Dreyfus hasn’t only made a lot of people laugh. She has also left an indelible cultural mark, expanding the possibilities for women in #comedy—and maybe in politics and public life as well. Read this week's full cover story by Molly Ball (plus 15 people changing comedy) at the link in bio. TIME Photo-Illustration. Photograph by @ramonarosales for TIME; animation by @brobeldesign

A post shared by TIME (@time) on Feb 28, 2019 at 5:41am PST

Louis-Dreyfus has spoken out against the president before and was one of the people who signed the letter of support for Christine Blasey Ford, a fellow alumnae at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Md., after she accused now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of assaulting her in high school. (Kavanaugh denied the allegation.) Ahead of the midterm elections last year, she even blasted Trump in a public service announcement encouraging people to vote so Democrats could take back Congress. She said that for years he has been “spreading fear, encouraging racism and inciting violence.”

Louis-Dreyfus, who’s in remission for breast cancer, touched on many other topics during the interview, which took place while she was filming the upcoming movie Downhill with Will Ferrell. One was the #MeToo Movement teaching comedians, including Louis C.K. and Al Franken, that there was behavior they couldn’t get away with.

Speaking about C.K., who has been trying to make a comeback, she said she was “offended by his most recent comments,” referring to the ones about high school shooting victims. She also said he was talented.

There was more about Franken, who, like the actress, had Saturday Night Live roots prior to his political career, which ended with him resigning after multiple women accused him of inappropriate touching. “He was and is an intelligent leader who got things done,” she said. “He was on the right side of the issues.” Louis-Dreyfus also said that what he was accused of “pales in comparison to what else is going on out there. This #MeToo revolution, I’m very much in favor of it, but it takes no prisoners.” She said she would like to see him make a comeback.

The magazine noted that Louis-Dreyfus called after the interview to clarify that her “default position is to believe victims.”

The trailer for the final season of Veep, which premieres March 31 on HBO:


The interview also talked about Louis-Dreyfus, who was recently awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center, working to carve out a role for herself in Hollywood. She said she battled with the male writers on Seinfeld to get better storylines, noting that it was supposed to be a guy-centric sitcom, but the network insisted her character be added while the writers were under the directive to write Elaine as if she were a male. After that smash hit, she found success on The New Adventures of Old Christine before racking up even more awards on Veep.

“There are plenty of things in trying to stay alive in show business that are very similar to trying to stay alive politically,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “And being a woman, a middle-aged woman, trying to stay relevant and viable — I get it. Not being taken seriously. It’s infuriating.”

However, she has seen change in the entertainment industry — with more opportunities for women beyond the “adoring, hot girlfriend.” And although there was a lot of “pushback” to her producing her own material, “I prevailed.” And “I can honestly say that I have a sh** ton of experience when it comes to making entertainment. So I think I have … I don’t think. I have a lot to add.”

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