Sean Penn destroys Donald Trump’s COVID-19 response at Cannes Film Festival

CANNES, France – Sean Penn was lucky enough to hit Donald Trump at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday and he ran with it.

At a press conference for his new movie “Flag Day,” the two-time Oscar winner savagely slammed the former president for his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Penn, who led an effort to test and vaccinate underserved communities, said Trump and his White House “let down” the country and the world with misinformation and “half-truths.” It was in “all terms a humanly and politically obscene administration,” he said.

“When my team and I returned from testing and vaccination sites at night, especially during testing under Trump, to infuriating news – it was like someone with a machine gun shooting down the most vulnerable communities from a turret. in the White House, “he added.

President Joe Biden and his administration have brought welcome relief, he noted emphatically.

“When transitioning to the task force that President Biden set up, it was really that feeling like a sun was rising,” he said. “There was no integrity effort on the part of the federal government until the Trump administration was fired.”

Penn previously accused Trump of “large-scale negligent homicide.”

“Flag Day,” which Penn directed and stars with daughter Dylan, premiered Saturday in Cannes, which hasn’t happened since May 2019 due to the pandemic. Masks are mandatory at the Palais des Festivals, and the party scene at the prestigious cinema gathering was quieter than usual.

Based on a memoir by Jennifer Vogel, “Flag Day” focuses on the tumultuous relationship between a con artist (Penn) and his daughter (Dylan Penn), who becomes a journalist.

Penn said he gave the script to Matt Damon a month and a half before filming to gauge Damon’s interest in playing the lead role, but Damon told him he would be a “stupid asshole” to pass up. the opportunity to act with his daughter.