Mel Brooks shares first-ever political video, slams Trump for "not doing a damn thing" about COVID-19
Aux Features Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks hasn’t had too much to say about Donald Trump over the past few years. The legendary comedian has characterized the president as a “song-and-dance man,” someone whose greatest contribution to the country is saving late night television. “Between Conan and Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert, he saved these guys!” he told The Daily Beast in 2018. “They’ve built careers on his doings. We are grateful to him for his contribution to showbiz. Other things are not so terrific.”
With the 2020 election less than a month away, however, Brooks is getting serious. On Wednesday, his son, the author Max Brooks, shared the 94-year old’s very first political video. And, no, he doesn’t want to see Trump reelected.
In a video not unlike his coronavirus PSA from earlier this year, Brooks begins the clip separated from his son and grandson by glass. “They can’t be with me. Why? Because of this coronavirus,” Brooks says. “And Donald Trump’s not doing a damn thing about it.”
He’s not wrong. Despite contracting COVID-19 himself earlier this month, the president has continued to downplay the pandemic’s impact, both in terms of death—we’re currently hovering around 221,000—and the economy—8 million people have been forced into poverty due to the government’s refusal to provide ongoing federal aid.
Brooks goes on to endorse Joe Biden. “Why do I like Joe? Because Joe likes facts. Because Joe likes science,” he says. “Joe will keep us going. Take a tip from me, vote for Joe.”
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With the 2020 election less than a month away, however, Brooks is getting serious. On Wednesday, his son, the author Max Brooks, shared the 94-year old’s very first political video.I mean, Blazing Saddles was inherently political but I guess they’re referring to the fact he’s never openly made a video endorsing a political candidate.
It was but I also know a lot of Trump loving Republicans who love that movie. In their mind, racial tension was something that did happen once but its all been fixed now. Its just “uppity” blacks who are still complaining even though racism was solved in 1978!
Is ‘78 just a number pulled out of thin air, or do these idjits have some actual specific thing they point to as “the end of racism”?
I just pulled it out of thin air. Seemed about when idjits would assume it was fixed
Time matches up with the then-imminent rise of the Idjit messiah (St. Ronald), so yeah, that checks out.
I’ve heard 1968 bandied about as the year that the Civil Rights Act was passed, thereby ending racism forever. 52 years later, whatever you’re seeing in the world can’t be racism because it ceased to exist back when Lyndon Johnson was President.
My brain went to the 1978 Mormon revelation (Black people are actually people, God changed his mind).
They thought racism was solved when “Diff’rent Strokes” premiered.
I grew up in a small town in Alabama, and there was never a bigger hit in those parts than Blazing Saddles. I was quite young at the time. My mom refused to let me go see it because she knew a lot of people were laughing at the racial humor for all the wrong reasons. And she was right. (The other big hit was Walking Tall. There’s nothing more heartening for some folks than a little hillbilly fascism…as I’m sure we all know by now.)
That’s the thing; they love the movie because of the fart jokes and the “funny black dude,” but they get none of the political commentary.
Is Blazing Saddles political? It’s social satire and commentary about racism in America which intersects with politics but I don’t see it as being a repudiation of specific politicians or political parties. It’s slamming the people who have views that a certain party is particularly associated, yeah, but we make that association not the film.
Maybe I’m forgetting a Watergate connection or something though, it’s been a while.
I think you’re using a pretty narrow definition of political.
Well I guess I need to burn my copy of Spaceballs now!!! 🙂
There’s a specially designed flamethrower for that.
The kids love this one!
I may never watch Dracula Dead And Loving It again. But then I was going to do that anyway.
Please tell me that’s real! I want one!
Oh, there’s a bunch of different designs for it. Just Google it and go nuts.
BUT WAHT COOD HE HAB DONN!?
It makes me so happy that he seems to be in such good health.
I saw “Mel Brooks” in the trending topics on Twitter and I really feel like it needs a caption below reading “Don’t worry, he’s not dead”.
Or “Don’t Worry, he’s not complaining about how you can’t make Blazing Saddles today”.
Ironically, it’s Trump asking “Where the White women at?” in 2020, because they are voting for Biden this time.
The old people too, and for the reasons Mel explains. We weren’t able to celebrate my mother’s 75th birthday together, we won’t be together for Thanksgiving. She didn’t come to Chicago from Florida to see her children and grandchildren this summer, and none of us will be going to Florida to see her either.She’s not the only one this is happening to. Donny can say everything is fine all he wants, but when seniors don’t get to see the grandkids, someone’s gonna pay.
Yeah, my mother’s in a retirement community about an hour away, but they shut down to visitors when the pandemic first hit and it’s looking like the restrictions will stretch deep into 2021. We’ve missed birthdays already and now Thanksgiving and Christmas are off the table. When I talk to her on the phone she just sounds bored, lonely, and sad.
And multiply that by pretty much every family in the country.
I’m sorry to hear about your mom. It can’t be easy for her. But I’m glad that retirement community is run by people who have enough common sense to stay closed to visitors. Too many places have gone back to normal because *shrug* an arbitrary amount of time has past? I really don’t know the why, but I do know it’s a significant contributor to the pandemic still being a thing.
Yup, I’ll be quarantining hard so I can make the 15 hour drive (no flying) to see my parents for Thanksgiving. They’re still thinking they’re going to visit my sister and the grandkids for Christmas, which scares the living shit out of me.
If Trump would have actually done nothing we’d have been better off. He actively put in the effort to made things worse at every opportunity.
Correct. He and his crew are actively, directly responsible for widespread death and suffering.
I forgot Mel Brooks was still alive.
At age 18 he was blasting Al Jolson at the Nazis in Bastogne. That was pretty much the period’s equivalent of a political video.
“President Skroob is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.” ~ President Trump
The famously apolitical Mel Brooks.
“The people are revolting!”“I know, they stink on ice! That’s why I stay here at Mar-a-Lago most of the time!”
Between Conan and Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert, he saved these guys!” he told The Daily Beast in 2018. “They’ve built careers on his doings.
Mel, I love you, but Conan, Kimmel & Colbert had long careers way before Trump became president.Now that that’s out of the way, please give us Spaceballs 3: The Search for Spaceballs 2.
Holy shit! Only now do I realize that Max Brooks of World War Z is Mel’s son?! Oy vey! What a meshugana I am!
Also, Devolution was a great novel!
Bravo Mel, and for anybody holding out it is definitely time to get off the bench.
Mel’s health amazed me. His statement shook America.