Reiner: '24 is all about stopping 'fascist' Trump from becoming a full-fledged dictatator
When Democratic strategists appear on MSNBC or CNN, they often lay out a long list of reasons for reelecting President Joe Biden in 2024. But veteran actor/director and liberal activist Rob Reiner didn't recite a list of Biden policies during his November 21 appearance on MSNBC's "The Beat." Instead, Reiner emphasized that the 2024 presidential election comes down to one thing: Preventing "fascist" GOP frontrunner Donald Trump from becoming a full-fledged dictator.
Reiner told host Ari Melber, "Every time we have a presidential election, they always say: This is the most important election of our life…. This one actually is…. You have one candidate, Trump, who actually tells you he's going to govern like an authoritarian. He says it. It's not a mystery. And you have another guy who has been there, knows how to run the government, believes in the Constitution, believes in democracy, the rule of law. And you've gotta make a choice."
The actor/activist continued, "You have to make a choice. Do we want fascism or do we want to continue the 248 years of self-rule?"
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Melber, who described Trump as an "authoritarian menace," responded, "You just said it more clearly than some of these Beltway pundit types in D.C., some of them around Biden. You just said it: Do you want fascism or not? Do you want to give your vote to someone who's trying to take your vote? Which doesn't mean you have to pretend that everything is sunny and perfect with the incumbent."
Reiner told Melber, "It's a choice. You make a choice. And right now, we're at a place where it's a crossroads. Do we want to continue democracy, or do we want to slip into fascism?.... He told us that he is going to put people in camps. And those of us who are Jewish…. that sound goes off. And you go, 'Oh my God, we know what that means.'"
Reiner, now 76, rose to fame in the early 1970s on Norman Lear's popular sitcom "All in the Family," where he portrayed Mike Stivic, the liberal son-in-law of racist Archie Bunker (played by the late Carroll O'Connor). Reiner's character and Bunker often had heated debates over politics on the show. In real life, O'Connor was the polar opposite of Bunker and, like Reiner, was a major supporter of liberal and progressive causes.
Reiner, after "All in the Family," went on to direct a long list of major films — from 1989's "When Harry Met Sally" to 1992's "A Few Good Men" to 2007's "The Bucket List."
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