Trump Sycophant Jon Voight to Receive National Medal of Arts
The actor is among the first honorees of the presidency.
Jon Voight arrives at the world premiere of "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" in 2019. (Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP)
Jon Voight thinks Donald Trump is “the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln,” which is probably reason enough for the praise-hungry president to give the star of movies like “Midnight Cowboy,” “Coming Home” and “Deliverance” the National Medal of Arts. Once an annual tradition, Trump hasn’t found anyone he deems sufficiently worthy (or sufficiently worshipful), since his 2017 inauguration, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
That Trump likes Voight isn’t a surprise. This is a president so desperate for recognition, his cabinet meetings begin with compliments just for him, as The Washington Post reports, and have since the very beginning of the Trump presidency. He also rewards those who praise him, and has given Voight a spot on the Kennedy Center’s Board of Trustees.
If the media coverage of conservatives in Hollywood is any indication, it’s a lonely existence.
In 2017, The Guardian reported the Friends of Abe, once a solace for Hollywood Republicans, dissolved over Trump’s candidacy.
Gerald Molen, an Academy-award winning producer of films like “Schindler’s List” told The Los Angeles Times in 2017 that while he had no trouble expressing his views in the 1990s, now, “The acrimony — it’s there. It’s front and center.” Andrew Klavan, a screenwriter and novelist, echoed the sentiment, telling The Los Angeles Times, “I feel absolutely [his views have] harmed me professionally.”
Voight was once a prominent liberal; in the 1960s, as the Daily Beast points out, he campaigned for Democrat George McGovern during his presidential run and protested against the Vietnam War. Since the George W. Bush administration, however, Voight’s political views have turned sharply right.
Per the Daily Beast in 2016:
He’s lashed out against the American public for criticizing then-President George W. Bush, narrated a video for Sarah Palin that aired on John McCain’s presidential campaign site, branded President Obama a “false prophet,” and makes the occasional appearance on Fox News.
Voight endorsed Trump in 2016, giving an exclusive statement to Breitbart News. He’s continued to support Trump even though, as the Daily Beast also points out, the president has insulted Voight’s daughter, actress Angelina Jolie.
Other National Medal of Arts and National Medal of Humanities recipients this year include bluegrass musician Alison Krauss, mystery writer James Patterson and all five U.S. military bands. While their political reviews remain undisclosed, neither Krauss nor Patterson appear to have publicly praised Trump as Voight has.
The awards will be presented Nov. 21.
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