It wasn’t the result that many in Hollywood wanted, but it’s the one they got.
When PA called Pennsylvania for the Republicans, it confirmed what many in blue-leading names were hoping wouldn’t come to pass: That Donald Trump has passed 270-seat threshold to win the presidency that he previously held between 2016 and 2020 and Kamala Harris has been defeated.
The writing looked on the wall earlier in the day, as the Republican began knocking through the ‘Blue Wall’ and winning swing states. Actors, writers and celebrities from across the entertainment have since been reacting to the stunning news that Donald Trump will retake the White House and many are angry with the campaign the Democrats ran. Other are looking to the future with dread, with several decrying the future prospects for women’s rights under the new regime or predicting long-term changes to American society.
Oscar winner Adam McKay, who directed political send-up Vice, left a lengthy post slamming the Democrats approach to winning the race for Vice President Kamala Harris. “Who would have guessed lying about Biden’s cognitive health for 2 yrs, refusing to do an open convention for a new nominee, never mentioning public healthcare & embracing fracking, the Cheneys & a yr long slaughter of children in Gaza wouldn’t be a winning strategy?” he wrote.
The Wire and Treme actor Wendell Pierce, who has consistently spoken in favor of Harris, wrote: “The Supreme Court will be changed for a generation. I’ll never see a moderate court again in my lifetime. Alito and Thomas will step down and Trump will appoint 40 year old partisans to the bench. The damage he is about to inflict on our institutions the next 2 years will be irreparable.”
David Simon, writer of The Wire and Treme, and an outspoken critic of Trump and his supporters, warned the X platform would “a rancid cesspool of lies and disinformation tonight and through the next several days,” before following up with a message suggesting his was a “dormant account under present management of this social media site.”
“God bless us all. Even the scrotes and shitheels,” he added.
Lili Reinhart, star of The CW drama Riverdale, wrote in solidarity with women who have accused the incoming Republic president of assault, saying her “heart absolutely breaks” for them. There is widespread concern in Democratic circles that abortion rights to be further diminished in a new Trump regime.
Christina Applegate similarly questioned the future for women, writing on social media: “Why? Give me your reasons why????? My child is sobbing because her rights as a woman may be taken away. Why?And if you disagree , please unfollow me.”
Yvette Nicole Brown expressed her fury as Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno, saying: “This is a disgrace at a level I can’t even qualify” and adding: “AmeriKKKa is showing out tonight. Just showing out.”
Andy Cohen, the Watch What Happens Live presenter who had campaigned for the Democrats losing St. Louis senate candidate Lucas Kunce, took a shot at those who claimed the election would be manipulated against Trump, writing on X: “so the election ISN’T rigged????”.
He has since engaged a Republican-supporting commentator who claimed “the rigging was defeated,” writing: “OHHHHH!! so if he lost, it would’ve been rigged?”
John Stewart tried to provide some perspective on The Daily Show, saying: “We’re going to come out of this election, we’re going to make all kinds of pronouncements of what this country is and what this world is, but the truth is we’re not really gonna know sh*t. We’re going to make it seem like this is the finality of our civilization, but we’re all going to have to wake up tomorrow morning and work like hell to move the world the world to the place that we prefer it.”
Stewart noted how the U.S. has rarely followed what pundits and commentators proclaim in the aftermath of elections and then added: “This isn’t the end, and we have to regroup and we have to continue to fight and continue to work day in and day out to create the better society for our children, for this world, for this country that we know is possible. It is possible.”
Philip Pullman, the British writer of the His Dark Material novels that were adapted for HBO and the BBC, wasn’t convinced, simply writing: “Goodbye, America. It was nice knowing you.”