Ask a Celeb: Martin Sheen, Roseanne Barr, Mike Myers on the U.S. election

By Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Martin Sheen calls Donald Trump “a braggart and a bully,” Roseanne Barr feels he’s “a great communicator” and Mike Myers believes the U.S. election “will turn out well.”

In recent months, The Canadian Press has asked celebrities about their thoughts on the sensational U.S. presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Sheen, who played a U.S. president on “The West Wing” and is a Clinton supporter, said he thought Trump “would be a pushover” and the “easiest one for the Democrats” to beat during the primaries.

“It turned out to be the contrary and he is the most loathsome man that I could possibly imagine in the Oval Office,” the American star said in an interview last week.

“He’s totally unqualified…. This man has no business in the White House,” he continued. “He’s a selfish, self-serving, ignorant man. He may be a good father or a husband but he is not a public servant. He is a real-estate builder, he’s a businessman and not a very good one.

“He’s a braggart and a bully. When I think of him, I think of the phrase that most describes him and that is ‘arrogance is ignorance matured,’ and that’s about the best I can say about him.”

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Barr, who was a 2012 presidential nominee for the California-based Peace and Freedom Party, has a more positive opinion of Trump.

“He’s a great communicator,” she said during an interview for Toronto’s JFL42 comedy festival in late August.

“He’s filling stadiums … the things he says resonates with about half the voters.”

Asked about concerns over Trump’s views on immigration and building a wall along the Mexico border, she said: “I think it’s a Democrat talking point to make those things bigger than they are. And certainly, every country on Earth has the right to control immigration. To try to demonize that idea is kind of backfiring on Democrats.

“I don’t think it was a smart choice they made there because that isn’t what he said. He said and he has clarified thousands of times, too, he’s talking about (the fact) that you have to be careful who, and how many, immigrants and refugees we’re going to let in here. We’ve got to make sure, first of all, that we have room for them, and you know, you also have to consider the safety of Americans, to not just let people flood into our borders with no checks.”

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Myers, a Toronto-reared film star who now lives in the U.S., is on Clinton’s side.

“In the Canadian tradition, I’m a progressive and I’m voting for Hillary and I think she’s going to win, definitely,” he said in mid-August while promoting his book “Canada,” due out Oct. 29.

“It could be a squeaker,” he added, pronouncing it “squeak-ah.” “But I think we’re going to win. Americans are very smart and reasonable people. This will turn out well.”

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In an early September interview for the film “Snowden,” Shailene Woodley called the election “unprecedented.”

“You have two of the most unpopular candidates in the history of America up for presidency,” she said. “You have one candidate who is so anti-establishment he’ll say anything you want him to say, you (had) a different Democratic nominee, Bernie Sanders, who was a Democratic socialist and called out the government on a lot of things, even though he was a Democrat.

“And then you have Hillary Clinton, who really represents the system and establishment and the government.”

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Former “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Cheryl Hines simply called the election “terrifying” and said she couldn’t “believe it’s real.”

“It’s unbelievable that Donald Trump is running for president,” she said during a chat for the film “Nine Lives” in late July.

“I still don’t believe it. I’m in denial…. I don’t know how it happened. I honestly don’t know how Donald Trump is a candidate. So yeah, I’m in shock. It’s a strange phenomenon, isn’t it?”

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YouTube star Lilly Singh says the election has her feeling grateful to be Canadian.

“I live in L.A. now and everyone is always asking me, ‘What do you think about the election?’ And my response is always like, ‘Trudeau is my prime minister and we’re good. Like, we’re good. Canada is good,'” Singh said in mid-August during an interview for YouTube FanFest in Toronto.

“I’m a little bit baffled at everything happening with this election but I’m just kind of like, ‘God bless Trudeau. I’m feeling Trudeau.'”

— With files from Lauren La Rose.

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