Muslims and Mexico border walls: Michael Moore makes predictions about Donald Trump's presidency

'You do have to take Trump at his word,' says documentary-maker

Maya Oppenheim
Wednesday 18 January 2017 11:22 GMT
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Moore said the incoming President would follow through on his campaign plans, distancing himself from the increasingly popular view Mr Trump might tone down on his divisive, inflammatory campaign rhetoric once in office
Moore said the incoming President would follow through on his campaign plans, distancing himself from the increasingly popular view Mr Trump might tone down on his divisive, inflammatory campaign rhetoric once in office

When Michael Moore predicted Donald Trump would become US president in July of last year, the majority of pollsters, media commentators and activists overtly scoffed at his grave forecast.

But as the billionaire property tycoon climbed the polls and eventually won the election, the Oscar-winning documentary-maker’s predictions have held increasing clout. Moore, who has enjoyed a renaissance and emerged as a leading critic of the President-elect, has now made his predictions for Mr Trump’s presidency.

Moore said the incoming President would follow through on his campaign plans, distancing himself from the increasingly popular view that he might tone down on his divisive, inflammatory campaign rhetoric once in office.

Moore urged the public to take Mr Trump “at his word” and argued he would begin rolling back Barack Obama’s executive-branch regulations on his first day in office. The political commentator argued Mr Trump would put his two cornerstone campaign pledges - the wall along the border of Mexico and the US and the "Muslim ban" – into action.

“The good news: Trump has been up-front about his plans (if only we were listening). The bad news: He'll actually follow through with them,” Moore told Variety.

“You do have to take Trump at his word. I still hear people say, ‘Oh, he’s not really going to build the wall.’ Oh, he is going to build it. He knows that he’s got to deliver at least a version of the wall.”

“What you’re going to see is, on day one, he’s going to rescind a dozen or more of Obama’s executive-branch regulations. On day two, Republicans will start printing laws the way you print fliers for a homecoming dance. Before the liberals and the Democrats can get their heads screwed on straight, they’ll have 20 laws passed. Building a wall. Creating a Muslim ban.”

Moore suggested the President-elect has already shown how he will get away with building the Mexican wall.

“He’s going to get away with it by making it a ban on Muslims who come from the following countries. He needs just enough cover for his crowd to say, 'Oh, he’s being reasonable there. He’s not banning all Muslims.'”

Moore said he was worried about the President-elect having access to the nuclear codes and said he wished he had been forced to endure a “psychological evalution”. He suggested Mr Trump was unable to take criticism and questioned why he was tweeting about Meryl Streep after her Global Globes rebuke of him when there were far more pressing global issues to be dealing with.

“It was before the sun came up. With all that’s going on the world - the shooting in Fort Lauderdale, the shooting of police in Orlando, North Korea saying they have an ICBM that can hit us - and he woke up being consumed with Meryl Streep.”

Over the weekend, Mr Trump made it clear that he will not start attending to presidential duties until two days after his inauguration. He explained that he would take the weekend off and instead consider Monday as the first day of his administration.

Moore previously positioned himself as a Bernie Sanders supporter, but following the news that Mr Sanders had dropped out, he announced he would vote for Hillary Clinton in order to keep Mr Trump out. He has called on Americans to transform their anger at Mr Trump’s victory into action via protests and civil disobedience.

He is playing a key role in the protests surrounding Mr Trump’s inauguration on 20 January and will be speaking at the Women's March on Washington on Saturday and holding a “massive rally” in front of Trump International Hotel in New York the night before his inauguration.

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