Trump Reportedly Screened ‘Joker’ at the White House and Liked It

Ryan Lattanzio

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At long last, President Donald Trump finally saw “Joker.” According to Yahoo! News, a senior White House official confirmed to the outlet that he screened Todd Phillips’ revisionist DC origin story “for guests including ‘family, friends, and some staff.'” That same White House official confirmed that Trump indeed liked the movie.

Trump’s cinematic interests are well-documented. Amid his raving tweetstorms, the president has made mention of loving “Citizen Kane,” “Gone With the Wind,” and “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” He has also starred on screens big and small, with an appearance in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and a throwaway cameo in the second season of “Sex and the City,” to name a few.

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Trump has also previously been outspoken about controversial 2019 movies before, as indicated when Universal Pictures’ “The Hunt” got cancelled over the summer for its unwelcome portrayal of violence amid mass shootings in this country.

Here’s what he said about Hollywood at the time: “They’re treating conservatives very unfairly. … Hollywood is really terrible. You talk about racist — Hollywood is racist. What they’re doing with the kind of movies they’re putting out, it’s actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country.” Per “The Hunt,” he said, “The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos. They create their own violence, and then try to blame others. They are the true racists, and are very bad for our country!”

Over the weekend, “Joker” cinematographer Lawrence Sher took the top prize at Poland’s Camerimage festival, securing his spot in the awards-season derby. Despite persistent backlash dating up to and throughout its release, “Joker” isn’t going away anytime soon. It’s almost redundant at this point to rehash the numerous takedowns levied upon the movie. It’s a celebration of violence! It will incite incels! Horrid acts of cruelty are committed against women and other innocent people!

No matter, because the movie, having now crossed the $1 billion box-office mark, which is unheard of for an R-rated film, is here to stay.

For his deranged portrayal of Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix is a favorite to beat for the Best Actor Academy Award. And with Donald Trump’s support, this is surely no longer a movie any Academy voter can ignore.

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