John Cleese Fires Back at ‘Simple-Minded’ Critics After Backlash Over Joke Comparing Trump to Hitler
Comedian John Cleese wasted no time addressing the controversy over his recent joke about Donald Trump and Hitler — and called those who had issues “simple-minded," RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Tuesday, the 83-year-old entertainer posted a joke on Twitter. He wrote, “Five ways that Hitler was preferable to Trump.”
He wrote, “1. He fought for his country. 2. He never used a teleprompter. 3. He was nice to dogs. 4. He wrote his own books. 5. He never played golf. 6. He wasn’t a big fat slob.”
Cleese then wrote, “Five ways Trump is preferable to Hitler.” But he only named two reasons. The first is “he doesn’t practice genocide” and the second is “He has nice hair.” Cleese left the third, fourth, and fifth spots blank.
Many didn’t find the humor in the joke. One wrote, “It seems like you're saying that you prefer Hitler to Trump, fyi.”
Another person responded, “I feel only sadness for you now” while another told Cleese, “I remember when you were funny. So long ago.”
One upset fan wrote, “This is not a good take. At all.”
A Trump supporter ripped Cleese’s tweet. He wrote, “Oh gimme a break, Trump & Hitler couldn't be further apart on the political spectrum if they tried. Hitler's whole thing was trying to turn the whole world into one single empire with one flag, anthem & centralized government, whereas Trump's was fighting globalists who shared a similar goal.”
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Cleese caught wind of the backlash and decided to post again.
He told his followers, “I would like to apologise for my last tweet It was a very bad joke, especially on Boxing Day.”
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One person asked the comedian, “Why would you write this?”
Cleese responded, “Because I've never tried to amuse the simple-minded. There are plenty of comics who do, and you will enjoy them.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, in the last couple of weeks, Trump denied claims he read Hitler's work throughout his life after making controversial statements about immigrants.
“They’re coming in from Asia, from Africa, from South America,” Trump said. “They’re coming from all over the world.”
“They’re coming from prisons, they’re coming from mental institutions and insane asylums,” he added. “They’re terrorists, absolutely. That’s poisoning our country. That’s poisoning the blood of our country. And that’s what’s happening.”