Speaking to reporters backstage at the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday, actress Lily Tomlin likened the political tactics of Donald Trump to those employed in Nazi Germany.
While other actors did not call out the President by name in their criticism of his administration, Tomlin did so directly.
“Any activist should really talk about how to mount some kind of legislation against whatever it is that they are opposed to,” Tomlin said when asked about the role that celebrities play when advocating for or against social and political issues. “You’ve got to change the laws, just like he’s changing, Trump is changing the laws now. He’s trying to change the laws. You know, my mind is going too fast. I wanna think about the fact that, you know, I don’t wanna make this comparison, I’m not making it any way, but the Nazis, they changed the laws if they didn’t agree with them. They just changed them and they could do whatever they wanted.”
Tomlin added, “We need to be vigilant and we need to agree when he may have a good idea or she may have a good idea, and we should be resistant when they don’t. Oh my gosh, I feel like I’m talking to someplace in Germany many decades ago.”
Popular on Variety
Tomlin was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award Sunday night at the 2017 SAG Awards. During her acceptance speech, she said that recent protests against Trump had inspired her to think about “what sign should I make for the next march: Global warming, Standing Rock, LGBT issues, immigration — there are so many things.”
Watch more of Tomlin’s backstage speech below.
Lily Tomlin on using award shows to comment on politics #SAGAwards pic.twitter.com/gRQogm97WM
— Variety (@Variety) January 30, 2017
