Donald Trump has returned to criticizing Hollywood and Sunday’s record-low Oscars telecast.
Via his Save America political action committee, Trump issued a scathing statement, obtained by The Hill, where he called the Oscars “politically correct and boring” and called for the return of a host to the awards show.
“What used to be called The Academy Awards, and now is called the ‘Oscars’ — a far less important and elegant name — had the lowest Television Ratings in recorded history, even much lower than last year, which set another record low,” Trump said in the statement. “If they keep with the current ridiculous formula, it will only get worse — if that’s possible. Go back 15 years, look at the formula they then used, change the name back to THE ACADEMY AWARDS, don’t be so politically correct and boring, and do it right. ALSO, BRING BACK A GREAT HOST. These television people spend all their time thinking about how to promote the Democrat Party, which is destroying our Country, and cancel Conservatives and Republicans. That formula certainly hasn’t worked very well for The Academy!”
This year’s Oscars drew an average of 9.85 million viewers, down 58% from last year’s ceremony, which had 23.6 million viewers. The 2020 show was the previous record holder for lowest viewership for the Oscars, and before that was the 2018 telecast with 26.5 million viewers. Nearly every award show has plummeted in ratings during the coronavirus pandemic. The Grammys hit a record low this year with 8.8 million viewers, and the Golden Globes drew merely 6.9 million viewers.
Trump has swiped at the Oscars in the past, mocking the 2020 best picture winner “Parasite” at a political rally.
“The winner is…a movie from South Korea! What the hell was that all about?” he said. “We got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of that, they give them best movie of the year? Was it good? I don’t know. Let’s get ‘Gone With the Wind.’ Can we get ‘Gone With the Wind’ back, please?”