SerpApi.Org
President Donald Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, launched an eyebrow-raising attack on beloved Hollywood actor Richard Gere after the Golden Globe winner attacked the administration.
On Monday, the Chicago actor criticized the administration for shuttering USAID and called it one of the "most pure things" America had done. Speaking to the Associated Press in June, Gere said, "USAID was probably the most pure thing America did up to that moment."
"It was a giveaway program to needy people—whether it was health, whether it was education, [whether] it was women’s issues," he added. "What they did with HIV/AIDS saved tens of millions of lives—continuing."
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Gere told the media outlet, "Trump stopped that day one." He added, "[Trump] stopped that day one. It was insane... He wouldn’t even know what it stands for— USAID—and he has idiots around him who have the same ignorance about it."
According to Gere, he was "ashamed" of what happened to the organization. "[Trump] keeps saying we’re the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world."
"Well, what do you do if you’re the wealthiest, most powerful? You help people," he added. Cheung, known for his fierce defense of the president, wasted no time in slamming the Hollywood A-lister.
Sorry, not going to listen to a guy that may have put a gerbil up his a--,” Cheung, 44, wrote on the social media site X, referring to a 1990s rumor that Gere has called an "urban myth. " In May, Cheung went after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he questioned the terms of an alleged deal with Iran.
According to Pompeo, the terms of the deal appeared to run counter to Trump's America First policy. Of course, Cheung could not let that stand.
"Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f--- he’s talking about," the communications director wrote. "He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals."
"He’s not read into anything that’s happening, so how would he know?" he added. Pompeo is not the first, nor will he be the last, person he has gone after.
Just a few weeks earlier, Cheung went after Trump critics, telling them to "f--- around and find out" if they doubted the president's "political power." Many have said that they found Cheung's Twitter attacks unbecoming of a senior White House official.
"I will never get used to this kind of obscenity being used in an official statement by the White House Communication Director," wrote one person. "The White House no longer aspires to lead from a higher moral vantage point, it seeks to fight in the mud with the pigs."
"This type of communication coming from the White House has become acceptable. For most of my life, the White House has been a place to be revered, including the communication coming from the “people’s house” on an ongoing basis," another added. "This post from Steven Cheung is an egregious violation of professional norms and should not be normalized. If Steven Cheung worked in a corporation, he would have already cleaned out his desk."
