Hollywood great Mel Brooks is blazing a trail for voters to unsaddle Trump over handling of coronavirus pandemic
Comedy veteran Mel Brooks shared his first-ever political video as he announced he is backing Joe Biden for president.
The 94-year-old star, known for classic films including The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, criticised Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Brooks appeared in a video shared on Twitter and was seated at a desk while his son and grandson stood behind him, with a glass door between them and the director.
“Hi folks. I’m Mel Brooks,” he said. “And behind me you see my son and my grandson. They can’t be with me. Why? Because of this corona virus and Donald Trump’s not doing a damn thing about it.
“So many people have died and when you’ re dead you can’t do much.”
Urging Americans to use their right to vote, Brooks adds: “S o many people have died and when you’re dead you can’t do much”.
Brooks said he supports Mr Bid en because he has embraced science and said the former vice president will “keep us going”.
He said: “S o, I’m voting for Joe Biden. I like Joe. Why do I like Joe? Because Joe likes facts. Because Joe likes science. Joe will keep us going. Take a tip from me, vote for Joe.”
At the end of the video, Brooks, who belongs to the exclusive EGOT club having won an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Tony award, waved his son and grandson off before saying it was time to fill in his ballot.
His son, Max, said it was the first political video of his father’ s long career’ Brooks isn’t known for making public statements about politics, unlike his best friend of 70 years, actor Carl Reiner, who died this summer.
In July, Reiner’s wife tweeted: “I will say one last thing for him. I know he would be disappointed not to have lived to see Trump’s eviction from the White House, to make America safe again for honor and truth. Please VOTE! Annie Reiner.”
His endorsement has already been viewed over 2.7 million times on Twitter.
Taylor Swift, Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Jennifer Lopez are just a few of the other Hollywood stars supporting Mr Biden’s White House bid.