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Spike Lee compares Trump to Hitler: ‘This is not a game’

Director has long been a vocal critic of former president

Ellie Harrison
Monday 25 January 2021 08:08 GMT
Spike Lee cracks open champers as Trump loses presidency
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Spike Lee compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler during his acceptance speech at the New York Film Critics Awards on Sunday (24 January).

The filmmaker won the special award for his short New York New York, which was filmed during the pandemic.  

His acceptance speech was pre-recorded on 6 January, the day when pro-Trump supporters descended on the Capitol in a riot that left five people dead.

“It’s a very sad day in the history of America,” said Lee. “We’re at the crossroads now… and everybody please be safe. This is not a game… This president Agent Orange will go down in history with the likes of Hitler.”  

He added that the politicians who have stood by Trump are “on the wrong side of history”.

In November, footage emerged of Lee celebrating after Joe Biden won the US election.

A video circulating on Twitter showed the BlacKkKlansman director jumping for joy in Brooklyn, New York as he cracked open a bottle of champagne surrounded by other whooping Democrats.

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