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Glenn Beck ripped actor Tom Hanks on Monday, comparing his work in a 17-minute video promoting the re-election of President Barack Obama to that of Nazi propagandist filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
“Tom Hanks, you should be proud of the work you’ve done in this propaganda film,” Beck told his radio audience, estimated at 10 million listeners weekly. “What was the name of that propaganda artist for Hitler?”
Later in the segment, video of which is embedded below, Beck recalls the name of the director of Triumph of the Will and other films made in the 1930s to prop up Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.
“Her name is Leni Riefenstahl,” Beck said. “Tom … seriously, you made a great movie and it will go down in history much like Riefenstahl’s work did, and I think that’s great, and congratulations on that and best of luck to you in the future. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
Beck and his crew played several clips of Hanks narrating the Obama movie, The Road We’ve Traveled (embedded below), and used data from FactCheck.org to try and dismantle the points Hanks makes in the film, especially regarding health care legislation and auto-company bailouts.
“Listen to Tom Hanks, because he’s got all the credibility of Saving Private Ryan,” says Beck, though he adds: “When you check the work, it doesn’t add up.”
“Tom, we love your movies. I really wouldn’t make propaganda films – you know? It might be cool to do a documentary, but this is not a documentary. This is a propaganda film,” Beck said.
Beck also compared Hanks to Oprah Winfrey, who famously ditched her nonpartisan reputation in order to promote Obama’s candidacy four years ago.
“Tom Hanks, may you go the way of Oprah,” Beck said, suggesting Winfrey’s audience and influence has dwindled since her endorsement of Obama.
The 14-minute segment ended with Pat Gray, a co-host on the show, imitating what Jimmy Stewart would have sounded like if he made a movie promoting Social-Security policies championed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Email: paul.bond@thr.com
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