Jeff Daniels Blasts Trump’s Shocking AI Video: ‘Do We Really Have to Treat People Like That?’
Actor Jeff Daniels has criticized President Donald Trump after a viral AI-generated video showed Trump dropping feces on protesters.
Speaking to MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace on October 21, Daniels expressed shock at the clip, asking, “Do we really have to treat people like that?”
The video, posted by Trump on Truth Social on October 18, depicts the president wearing a crown and flying a small plane over No Kings Day protests, dropping brown liquid on demonstrators.
According to CNN, more than seven million Americans took part in the protests, showing widespread opposition to the Trump administration.
Daniels compared Trump’s actions to past presidents, questioning their decency. “The meme that [Trump] had where he was flying with the crown and spewing excrement all over the people down below… Would [Abraham] Lincoln have done that?” he asked.
Wallace agreed that Nixon wouldn’t have, and Daniels added, “[Ronald] Reagan wouldn’t have done it. [George] Bush wouldn’t have done it — either Bush.”
The actor, who is from the Midwest, said Trump’s video clashes with the values many Americans hold. “I think people in the Midwest, where I am… we value our decency and our civility. We don’t get taken with whatever goes on on the coast. We got a chip on our shoulder about that,” Daniels said.
He added that if Trump fails to deliver on his promises, particularly regarding the economy, voters may seek change. “Down the road, if [Trump] doesn’t deliver on the economy like he promised he would, then that stuff will start to add up. And they’ll get tired of it, and they’ll vote for change.”
Actor Jeff Daniels on Donald Trump: “Do we really have to treat people like that? The meme where he’s flying with the crown and spewing excrement all over the people. Would Lincoln have done that? I think people in the midwest where I am, we value our decency and our civility” pic.twitter.com/HRM0DrGvRe
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) October 22, 2025
This isn’t Daniels’ first public criticism of Trump. In 2019, he warned that another Trump term could mean the “end of democracy,” referencing his role as Atticus Finch in Broadway’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Quoting a line from the play, he said, “A mob is a place where people go to take a break from their conscience… That’s what I see when I look at Donald Trump’s rallies, that’s when I see the lies he’s spewing at these people, and people going, ‘I gotta believe in something.’” Daniels highlighted how Trump’s rhetoric plays into issues of race and economic promises, which he believes mislead voters.
Daniels’ remarks underline his belief that leaders should act with decency and respect, even in heated political moments.
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