We don't touch his idol. Donald Trump flew to the aid of the late actor John Wayne on Monday, accused of having made racist remarks by members of the Democratic Party in California who requested that an airport bearing his name be renamed.
Symbol of traditional America with his dozens of roles of cowboys and virile soldiers even machismo, John Wayne expressed "opinions favorable to the white supremacy, anti-LGBT and anti-indigenous", wrote in a resolution adopted Friday evening the Party Orange County Democrat, south of Los Angeles.
The party quotes in particular an interview published in 1971 by Playboy magazine where the actor is quoted saying: "I believe in white supremacy" and "I do not feel guilty that here are five or ten generations, these people were slaves ”. "The Orange County Democratic Party condemns John Wayne's racist and sectarian statements, and calls for the name of John Wayne to be removed from Orange County airport," said the resolution.
America facing its past
This request comes at a time when part of American society has begun a deep examination of conscience on the discrimination that undermines it. Numerous statues and monuments associated with slavery and racist oppression have been removed or renamed in the wake of demonstrations denouncing the death of George Floyd, black man in his forties asphyxiated by a white police officer.
"Now the worthless Democrats want to remove John Wayne's name from an airport," President Trump reacted on Twitter, calling the idea "incredible stupidity."
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1277581155945021440
Trump has presented himself in the past as an "old fan" of John Wayne. He even posed alongside the actor's daughter in Iowa, his state of birth, during his 2016 election campaign.
John Wayne's family, who have a statue at Orange County airport and another in Beverly Hills, have dismissed charges of racism against him. "It would be unfair to judge someone on the basis of an interview used out of context," said John Wayne's son Ethan on CNN television last year. "They are trying to challenge the way he led his life, and the way he led his life was who he was," he said. John Wayne died in 1979 and starred in over 150 films. He was in the running for several Oscars, and received the statuette for best actor for One Hundred Dollars for a Sheriff in 1969.
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