Peter Fonda’s Politics: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Peter Fonda Politics

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Peter Fonda tweeted that “we should rip Barron Trump from his mother’s arms and put him in a cage with pedophiles” in the midst of a Twitter tirade against the separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. In a now-deleted message, Fonda, 78, wrote, “WE SHOULD RIP BARRON TRUMP FROM HIS MOTHER’S ARMS AND PUT HIM IN A CAGE WITH PEDOPHILES AND SEE IF MOTHER WILL WILL STAND UP AGAINST THE GIANT ASSHOLE SHE IS MARRIED TO. 90 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE STREETS ON THE SAME WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY. F***.” The Hill reports that the Secret Service was notified about the tweet by Stephanie Grisham, First Lady Melania Trump’s communications director. Grisham told the Hill that the tweet was “sick and irresponsible.”

Fonda also took aim at Department of Homeland Security Chief Kirstjen Nielsen and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Fonda wrote, “Kristjen Nielsen is a lying gash that should be put in a cage and poked at by passersby. The gash should be pilloried in Lafayette Square naked and whipped by passersby while being filmed for posterity.” That was followed up with, “SS (Sarah Sanders) is a lying gash, too. And “gash” is much worse than c***. Maybe we should take her children away and deport her to Arkansas, and giving her children to Stephen Goebbels Miller for safe keeping.”

Fonda, an Oscar nominated actor, is part of one of Hollywood’s most famous dynasties. His father, Henry, is best known as the star of The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men. Fonda’s sister, Jane, perhaps the most famous of the family was as famous for her politics as for her acting. In 1972, Jane Fonda was photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft during a visit to the country. That incident earned her the nickname, “Hanoi Jane.”

Here’s what you need to know about Peter Fonda’s politics:


1. Fonda Once Called President Obama a ‘F***ing Traitor’

Peter Fonda Don Lemon

GettyPeter Fonda pictured with CNN’s Don Lemon in March 2018.

In May 2011, Fonda was quoted by Variety as calling President Barack Obama a “f***ing traitor,” in reference to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Fonda added that he sent the president an email that read, “You’re a traitor, you allowed foreign boots on our soil telling our military – in this case the Coast Guard – what they can and could not do, and telling us, the citizens of the United States, what we could or could not do.” At the time, Fonda was promoting a documentary he co-produced about the disaster and clean-up titled, “The Big Fix.”


2. Fonda Appeared in a 1999 Movie About Right Wing Icon Ayn Rand

In 1999, Fonda won a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film for his performance in The Passion of Ayn Rand. Fonda played the role of Rand’s husband, Frank O’Connor, opposite Helen Mirren who portrayed Rand. Variety’s review of the movie read, “Unfortunately, its insistence on maintaining a detached point of view towards its characters – or, rather, no point of view at all, as the filmmakers seem reticent to offend either Rand fans or detractors – renders it dramatically inert.” According to her official website, Rand has been a “major inspiration for the Tea Party movement, which has swept a new generation of Republicans and self-described conservatives into power.”


3. In 1985, Fonda Criticized Americans Saying, ‘We Want the Government to Take Care Us’

Fonda elaborated on his politics in a 1985 interview with the Washington Post. Fonda spoke about his objection to the Vietnam War but how he voted for Barry Goldwater, “thinking Goldwater would end it sooner.” Fonda continued to speak about the “cancer of our citizenship that could spell the destruction of our democracy.” Fonda explained further saying, “We used to be a nation of people who could fix things for themselves . . . Fix the tractor, the table, grow your food, have the baby in the barn. Now we want someone else to fix it for us . . . We want the government to take care of us. Who’s going to run the government, a bunch of goddam nannies? Dutch and Mummy?”


4. Fonda Has Also Said that Americans Should ‘Scare the S*** Out of ICE’

Peter Fonda wife Margaret DeVogelaere

GettyFonda pictured with his wife Margaret DeVogelaere pictured in January 2018.

Fonda has continued to speak on Twitter, via Mediaite, in the wake of his comments about Barron Trump. The actor later tweeted, “Wanna stop this f***ing monster? Really wanna stop this giant asshole? 90 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE STREETS ON THE SAME WEEKEND! THESE REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES ARE ALL IN ON IT! THE CHIEF ASSHOLE IS HAPPY WE ARE ALL VERY UPSET. WE HAVE TO GET EVEN MORE ANGRY WITH THESE REPUBLICANS.” In a conversation with a follower, Fonda said that Americans should “scare the shit out of” ICE agents by protesting that the schools of officer’s children. Fonda also said, “We need to scare the f*** out of them!.” He added that people “need to make [the children of ICE agents] worry now.”


5. Fonda’s Tweets Have the Ire of Twitter’s Most Popular Conservative Commentators

Fonda’s Twitter tirade, which erupted a few hours before Trump opted to sign an order that would seek to prevent the separation of children and parents at the border, has been condemned by the biggest names on conservative Twitter:

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