Moore won’t run for office, but he thinks everyone else should
WASHINGTON: Michael Moore is 45 minutes late and somehow right on time. At the D.C. screening of “Fahrenheit 11/9,” his new documentary about President Donald Trump ( but not all about Trump), the 64-year- old fi lmmaker got to his own red carpet just before the lights went down.
He’s ambling past the theatre when one of the movie’s producers waves him inside, “Michael! Michael!” He stops to take a photo of the marquee with his name on it as if it’s his fi rst time at-bat and heads inside to promote the fi lm hitting the big screen on Friday. Before the documentarian’s lingering fans crowded him for selfies, we managed to get a few questions in about the movie Moore called “a molotov cocktail into the system.”
Q: We have to start with the name. “Fahrenheit 11/9” is a mirror image of your most commercially successful fi lm, “Fahrenheit 9/11.” Was the symmetry poetic?
A: It was just a coincidence that he was announced as president at 2: 29 in the morning on 11/9/16, and right away it sort of hit me that as bad we thought it was when we made “Fahrenheit 9/11,” we are in much worse condition right now.
Q: Did you immediately think “this is my next movie”?
A: I immediately tried to see if my grandfather being Canadian was enough to get some papers. It’s not.
Q: You’d leave America in the rear view?
A: I can’t go anywhere. Are you kidding? We’re in the fi ght of our lives here and we’re going to win it, but it won’t be won by hoping we’re going to win.
Q: In several interviews you’ve suggested that Alisters throw their hats into the political arena. Aren’t there enough famous folk in politics?
A: What’s wrong with celebrities? People like them. Why don’t we elect somebody that we like. Wouldn’t you vote for Tom Hanks?
Q: Have you talked to Tom Hanks about that?
A: Yes, I have. Q: His response? A: No. I said, “I’ll even run as your number two. I’ll do all the dirty work! You just stand there and cut ribbons and smile.” Q: So who else? A: How about Michelle Obama? She’d win. That’s the way the Democrats have to start thinking. Think out of the box. Don’t run a politician. Run somebody beloved by the American people who’s smart and who will fi ght for the average everyday person who’s struggling to keep their head above water. Q: Why not run yourself? A: Oh. Um. You know I was the fi rst 18-year- old elected in the state of Michigan when they lowered the voting age to 18. I ran for board of education because I wanted to fi re the principal and the assistant principal. I won, and a year later they were gone. So I learned at an early age that if you got involved, you could affect change. Then I retired from politics at 22. Everybody should do it. You should it. Q: But I’m on the other side. A: And that’s where I have to stay. Over here. I think I serve the country better by making movies like this. I hope I do.
Q: Do you hope President Trump watches the film?
A: Oh, I know he’ll watch the fi lm. Are you kidding? First of all, anything that has him as the star of it or his name in it ... I made a fi lm before the election called “Michael Moore in TrumpLand” and he tweeted positively about it when he heard about it. He hadn’t watched it, but he saw that his name was in the title. To a malignant narcissist, that’s all the matters. But I hope he does see it.
What’s wrong with celebrities? People like them. Why don’t we elect somebody that we like. Wouldn’t you vote for Tom Hanks? Michael Moore, filmmaker