The White House on Friday condemned a production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar, ” in which the titular character, who is assassinated, resembles President…
The White House on Friday condemned a production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar, ” in which the titular character, who is assassinated, resembles President Trump.
“I think it’s troubling, whether it’s that or Johnny Depp’s comments, ” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters, referencing the Hollywood actor’s joke about assassinating the president .
“The president’s made it clear we should denounce violence in all of its forms, ” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT Spicer said those types of comments and depictions don’ t receive appropriate outrage because they are directed at Trump.
“We either all agree that violence should be called out, denounced, or not, ” he said. “And I think it’s concerning when you see a pattern that these comments get made, these actions get depicted, and the lack of attention that they get when it’s on our side.”
The New York City production of “Julius Caesar” prompted outrage, and a protest that interrupted the play last week, after video footage of the Trump-like Caesar being killed circulated the internet.
It caused Delta Air Lines and Bank of America to pull their sponsorships of The Public Theater of New York, which put on the show.
Spicer’s comments came just hours after a Trump campaign supporter who once said Hillary Clinton Hillary Rodham Clinton OPINION: Dear media, Americans don’t care about Obama’s legacy Gowdy won’t use Oversight gavel to probe Russia White House condemns ‘Julius Caesar’ production MORE should be “shot for treason” attended a bill signing at the White House.
Asked whether it was hypocritical to invite New Hampshire state Rep. Al Baldasaro (R) to the event, Spicer said he is “not aware of the comments he made.”
“But again, I’ ll say right now that I don’ t think that we should be resorting to that kind of language with respect to anybody in our country, ” he added.
Baldasaro, a Marine Corps veteran who advised the Trump campaign on veterans issues, said last summer that Clinton “should be put in the firing line and shot for treason” for her handling of the terrorist attacks on the U. S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Trump later came to Baldasaro’s defense.
“Well, I didn’t know that but I will tell you he’s a very fine person, ” he said in an interview last August when asked about his comments. “He is a person that loves the military and he loves the veterans.”
