BY JUDY KURTZ
\nThe Hill<\/p>\n
George Clooney is pushing back against critics who bash movie stars for speaking out about politics, saying President Trump and White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon are the real \u201cHollywood elitists.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Meryl [Streep] spoke, everyone on that one side said, \u2018Well that\u2019s elitist Hollywood speaking.\u2019 Donald Trump<\/a><\/span> has 22 acting credits in television,\u201d Clooney said in an interview over the weekend with the French network Canal+<\/a>.<\/p>\n Streep slammed Trump in an emotional speech, which went viral, at the Golden Globe Awards last month.<\/p>\n But former \u201cCelebrity Apprentice\u201d star Trump, Clooney said, \u201cCollects $120,000 a year from his Screen Actors Guild pension fund. He is a Hollywood elitist.\u201d<\/p>\n Clooney, an outspoken Democrat who hosted big-ticket fundraisers<\/a> for former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton<\/a><\/span> last year, also called out Trump\u2019s senior adviser.<\/p>\n \u201cSteve Bannon is a failed film writer and director. That’s the truth, that\u2019s what he\u2019s done,\u201d Clooney said with a slight grin. \u201cHe wrote a Shakespearean rap musical about the L.A. riots that he couldn\u2019t get made. He made a lot of money off of \u2018Seinfeld.\u2019 He\u2019s elitist Hollywood, I mean that\u2019s the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n Saying Streep had \u201cevery right to speak up,\u201d Clooney, 55, told the French cable network, \u201cShe was an American citizen long before she was an icon.\u201d<\/p>\n Clooney called on journalists to put the pressure on Trump while criticizing the press for what he described as a poor performance during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a demagogue in the White House. We need the fourth estate, which is journalists, to hold his feet to the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t do a very good job during the campaign. And they haven\u2019t done a particularly good job yet. But those things will change,\u201d the Oscar winner and \u201cMoney Monster\u201d star said.<\/p>\n Clooney \u2014 who predicted last May that Trump wouldn\u2019t win the White House \u2014 said having the real estate mogul occupy the Oval Office is still \u201chard to imagine. It still catches in your throat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019ll fix it,\u201d Clooney said. \u201cWe have to.\u201d<\/p>\n