Donald Trump Jr. made Twitter great again this week before the week had even ended. On Friday, Twitter became a whole lot greater.
Like his father, Don Jr. also has big buttons to press; they just come marked with word “Troll” rather than “Nuclear.” After having set his sights on Steve Bannon, Keith Olbermann and the failing New York Times, Trump Jr. issued the coup de grace of trolls when he slammed actress Meryl Streep.
Mid-week, Streep once again had been asked to explain her silence regarding movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s alleged penchant for making women watch him have sex with potted-plants. Once again, Streep deflected the criticism; only this time, she pointed her fingers at Ivanka Trump and Melania Trump.
“I don’t want to hear about the silence of me,” Streep told The New York Times. “I want to hear about the silence of Melania Trump. I want to hear from her. She has so much that’s valuable to say. And so does Ivanka. I want her to speak now.”
Can someone say straw-man? Don Jr. didn’t take kindly to Streep attacking both his sister and step-mom, writing on Twitter: “Amazing that the only person in all of Hollywood who didn’t know Weinstein was a serial assaulter (of course she did) has an opinion on this.”
Meryl Streep’s blanket denial about Weinstein has taken a severe toll on her reputation. According to celebrity branding expert Jeetendr Sehdev, a poll he conducted now shows that 58% of adults “now feel negatively towards the once beloved Streep.”
“Streep’s claims that she didn’t know are ludicrous and the kiss of death for her image in Hollywood,” says Sehdev, who attributes the backlash to Streep’s playing the public for fools.
“Streep needs to apologize to her fans for not telling the truth. And perhaps explain what pressures she was feeling to make such a public statement to begin with,” Sehdev said. “Many people assume that Weinstein reaches out to his close friends to see if they could speak out on his behalf and try to damage control. Were Streep and Clooney part of this pact?”
Feminists have come out to defend Streep in droves, all alleging that Streep is a victim of sexist attacks. Entertainment writer Ira Madison III wrote in the Daily Beast that Streep has been “viciously attacked” by the patriarchy.
“Here we are, attacking a woman for what she may or may not have known, when everyone seems to insist that everyone in the industry knew,” he said. “Why then, have George Clooney or Brad Pitt, not been as viciously attacked as Streep? Why not Bob Weinstein, his own brother, who’s remained relatively unscathed from Harvey’s downfall?”