“Citizen Kane” is the story of a massive media mogul turned politician who amassed all the wealth and power in the world, but at the end of the day only craved a childhood pleasure. Sound like anyone we know?
Documentarian Errol Morris interviewed Donald Trump for a segment for the Oscars and asked him about Orson Welles’s 1941 masterpiece, which Trump has previously called his favorite movie. But Trump’s answer makes Morris think Trump may have missed the point.
“I asked him explicitly, ‘Do you have any advice for Charles Foster Kane?'” Morris told TheWrap. “He says, ‘Yes,’ that he would tell Charles Foster Kane, ‘Get yourself a different woman’ — as if the whole message of the film is he should just replace his wife with another one.”
Trump spoke in the segment about the significance of the word “Rosebud” spoken on Kane’s deathbed, which (70-year-old spoiler!!!) was the name of Kane’s sled when he was a boy.
“‘Citizen Kane’ was really about accumulation, and at the end of the accumulation, you see what happens, and it’s not necessarily all positive. Not positive,” Trump said in the video. “I think you learn in ‘Kane,’ maybe wealth isn’t everything, because he had the wealth, but he didn’t have the happiness.”
Morris believes he and the President see the film quite differently, and that the fictional Kane, played by Orson Welles, isn’t all that different from the real-life Trump.
“I’m reminded of what I consider perhaps the greatest film review ever written, which is Borges’s review of “Citizen Kane,” Morris said. “Kane, for Borges, is an empty vessel. A kind of simulacrum of a human being rather than the real thing. A kind of combination of unassimilated wants and ids. He comes quite close to my vision of Donald Trump.”
Watch the video of Trump talking about “Citizen Kane” above.
Morris stopped by TheWrap to discuss his documentary “The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography (2016),” which opens in select theaters on Friday. Keep an eye out for more to come from our interview with the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
37 Hollywood Stars for Donald Trump in 2020 (Photos)
With time running out for the President to gain Joe Biden in the polls, here are 34 of Trump's celebrity fans rooting for the President to win a second term.
"I think Trump, no matter what anybody thinks of him, is doing a good job at trying to get these states — and all of the American people — what they need," Dennis Quaid told the Daily Beast in April 2020.
Comedian Roseanne Barr tweeted a picture of herself wearing a "Trump 2020" baseball cap with the caption, "2020 vision."
Former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Kristy Swanson in March tweeted, "An honor to meet you Mr. President."
Former NFL great Hershel Walker spoke at the RNC in August and tweeted, "TRUMP PENCE 2020"
"Thank you for being the best President ever," tweeted Diamond and Silk.
Mariano Rivera, the Former Yankee pitcher who was awarded the Medal of Freedom from the President in 2019 said, "He's doing the best for the United States."
"Phenomenal President. Quite possibly the USA," tweeted UFC fighter Conor McGregor back in January. "Most certainly one of them anyway, as he sits atop the shoulders of many amazing giants that came before him."
"We're on the very front end of this right now, and I feel comfortable and confident that because of strong leadership," said Elisabeth Hasselbeck on "The View" in March supporting the President's coronavirus response.
Former "Entertainment Tonight" anchor Mary Hart hosted the President's controversial July 4th celebration at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota back in July.
"He is literally going to go down in history as one of our greatest Presidents," said "Pawn Stars" Rick Harrison at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.
NASCAR driver Corey LaJoie sported a "Trump 2020" on his car at NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, back in July.
UFC fighter Colby Covington recently supported the President on his Instagram saying, "Had a tremendous time yesterday with @erictrump & @carlos_e_gavidia at the MAGA Boat Parade in Miami!"
“All I gotta say is Trump 2020, bitch. Fuck I look like paying an extra 33 in taxes for Biden," rapper Lil Pump said on his Instagram story in October 2020.
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Golf legend Jack Nicklaus in a statement on his Twitter "strongly recommend(s) you consider Donald J. Trump for another four years. I certainly have and have already cast my vote for him!"
Lil Wayne shocked fans on Oct. 29 when he tweeted a photo of himself with President Trump. He captioned the pic by saying that "besides what he’s done so far with criminal reform, the platinum plan is going to give the community real ownership."
NFL Legend Brett Favre tweeted, "In this election, we have freedom of choice, which all should respect. For me & these principles, my Vote is for @RealDonaldTrump."
With the election underway, here are the stars who will be voting for President Donald Trump’s second term in 2020
With time running out for the President to gain Joe Biden in the polls, here are 34 of Trump's celebrity fans rooting for the President to win a second term.