Actor Martin Sheen described ex-President Donald Trump as a selfish “hustler” and a “bum” the country needs to shake off.
Sheen, who played fictional President Josiah Bartlet on the long-running TV series The West Wing, told Forbes’ Jeff Conway in an interview this week that Americans have to “see through this fog of deception, divisiveness” that defined the Trump era.
And in a line that could have come straight from his hit series, Sheen added: “I think we’ve forgotten something that is a deep part of our humanity and that is that we serve ourselves best when we serve others first.”
Republicans and Democrats have traded power in Washington for years, but not with the degree of selfishness or dishonesty displayed by Trump and his enablers, noted Sheen, a lifelong Democrat.
“This has been a colossal error in our character, this Trump administration and the fact that he will not man up and step forward and say that he has lied about it and that he has used it, and he’s hurt the country and all of his followers,” said Sheen.
Trump “has led the country in such a desperate way, of selfishness and lies, and we’ve got to shake this guy off. This guy does not deserve that much attention,” he continued.
Instead, Sheen said, Trump “deserves a lot of pity, and we’ve got to call this bum out to be what he is. To stand up, be a man, and say it’s all a lie, and show some respect and love for the country.”
Listen to the interview here: