US director Gray lambasts ‘imbecile’ Trump at Marrakech film fest

James Gray, US director and president of the jury, arrives at the Marrakech International Film festival, on November 30, 2018, in the city of Marrakesh. AFP

MARRAKECH, Morocco – US director James Gray, chairman of this year’s Marrakech film festival, on Monday lambasted his country’s President Donald Trump as an “imbecile” and source of embarrassment for Americans abroad.

“It’s been very hard for me to be here because the president of the United States is a moron and a very dangerous moron,” he told a news conference in the Moroccan city.

“It’s embarrassing, I feel very awkward and I feel I have to apologize every two minutes, because… I’m trying to represent the better part of my country not that one that is represented by an imbecile.”

US actor Robert De Niro, an outspoken critic of Trump, received a tribute award at the festival on Saturday. He used the occasion to launch a fresh tirade against the president and his “America First” mantra.

“Sadly, in my country we are going through a grotesque version of nationalism… marked by greed, xenophobia and selfishness under the banner of ‘America First’,” De Niro said to loud applause from the audience.

Gray, whose films include “Little Odessa” and “The Immigrants”, with sci-fi thriller “Ad Astra” starring Brad Pitt, to be released next year, said De Niro’s latest outburst against Trump was “for me… the moment” of the festival, which opened Friday. /cbb