Famed director\u00a0Pedro\u00a0Almod\u00f3var\u00a0says President Trump will “go down in history as a catastrophe,”\u00a0dedicating a film award to the “thousands deported in recent weeks,” as well as Harvard University and to a transgender Hollywood star.<\/p>\n
“I wish to express my gratitude for this award; however, I admit there have been moments where I have doubted about coming to accept it, in the same way that I would go to… Russia or North Korea,” Almod\u00f3var said Monday while being honored with the Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award in New York City.<\/p>\n
“I doubted if it was appropriate to come to a country ruled by a narcissistic, authoritarian lunatic who doesn’t respect human rights and who it seems nothing can stop in his race to change the fragile world balance,” Almod\u00f3var, who was born in Spain, said to applause. <\/p>\n
“Trump and his friends \u2014 millionaires and oligarchs \u2014 cannot convince us that the reality we are seeing with our own eyes is the opposite of what we are living, however much he may twist the words, claiming that they mean the opposite of what they do.”<\/p>\n
“Immigrants are not criminals,” he exclaimed.<\/p>\n
Trump\u00a0has signed multiple<\/a>\u00a0executive orders targeting immigration, and his administration has touted its deportation efforts, many of which are\u00a0being challenged<\/a>\u00a0in court.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pushing back on Trump’s sharp criticism<\/a> of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following Russia’s 2022 invasion of the country, Almod\u00f3var said, “Zelensky is not a dictator. [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is. And however much Trump denies it, it was Russia that invaded Ukraine.”<\/p>\n Almod\u00f3var\u00a0also defended “Euphoria” star Hunter Schafer. The transgender performer said\u00a0in February<\/a>\u00a0she had been issued a U.S. passport with a male gender marker.<\/p>\n “That cruel whim by trans bureaucrats, that there are only two genders, does not change the nature of the human being and its sexual diversity,”\u00a0Almod\u00f3var\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Mr. Trump: I’m talking to you. And I hope that you hear what I’m going to say to you,” the 75-year-old “Talk to Her” director said. <\/p>\n “You will go down in history as the greatest mistake of our time. Your naivet\u00e9 is only comparable to your violence. You will go down in history as one of the greatest dangers to humanity in this beginning of the century. You will go down in history as a catastrophe,” Almod\u00f3var said.<\/p>\n Almod\u00f3var said that “given the circumstances,” he wished to dedicate his award to “the thousands deported in recent weeks, to the beautiful Hunter Schafer as well, and to Harvard University” for the school’s “determination to not surrender to Trump’s war on knowledge and culture which remain the best weapons to fight lies and misinformation.”<\/p>\n