Trump blasts best-picture Oscar for South Korean film 'Parasite'

[February 21, 2020]  By Steve Holland

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday ridiculed the historic best-picture Oscar win for South Korean film "Parasite," telling a campaign rally he wished for the return of Hollywood classics like 1939's "Gone with the Wind."

"Parasite," a dark social satire about the gap between rich and poor in modern Seoul, earlier this month became the first non-English-language film to take Hollywood's top prize. It also won three other Oscars - best director and original screenplay for Bong Joon Ho and best international feature film.

"How bad were the Academy Awards this year?" asked Trump at the rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Imitating an Academy Awards presenter, he said: "And the winner is a movie from South Korea.

"What the hell was that all about? We’ve got enough problems with South Korea, with trade. And after all that, they give them best movie of the year?” Trump added.

"Can we get 'Gone With the Wind' back, please?" he said to thousands of supporters, referring to the film about the Civil War-era South that won the best-picture Oscar 80 years ago.

Trump also dismissed actor Brad Pitt, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Pitt said in accepting the award that he got more time to speak, 45 seconds, than former national security adviser John Bolton received at Trump's Senate impeachment trial.

President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/ Kevin Lamarque

"I was never a big fan of his. He's a little wise guy," Trump said of Pitt.

Trump, who is on a four-day Western U.S. swing, gave a harsh review as well of Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate, particularly the performance of former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who the president said had a ragged night.

"I was going to send him a note saying: 'It’s not easy doing what I do, is it?' It's not easy, Mike. It's not easy for any of them," he said of the contenders for the Democratic nomination to face him in November's election.

Trump is set to return to Washington after speaking at a rally in Las Vegas on Friday.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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