Lena Dunham Called Paul Ryan to Protest Steve Bannon’s Appointment
Image by Getty
By Thea Glassman November 16, 2016
Check your voicemail, Paul Ryan. There’s a timely, heartfelt plea from one Lena Dunham.
The “Girls” star posted an Instagram video of herself leaving a message for Ryan yesterday, pushing back against Donald Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon, formerly executive chairman of the far-right news site Breitbart News, as his chief strategist.
“I’m not sure you’re really going to listen to this,” she said. “But I hope you do, because I want to let you know that as a woman, as a Jew, as a person who cares about other human beings, people of color, the idea of appointing an anti-Semitic white supremacist…”
The machine then cut off.
Dunham, who was a vocal Hillary Clinton supporter, has nixed her original statement that she would move to Canada if Trump won the presidential election. Instead, she said, she chooses to stay and fight.
“I will go many places during my lifetime, surrounded by kindreds on a mission to spread justice and light. I can’t wait for all of this, and for the change to come, as we use what we’ve been given to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” Dunham wrote in an Instagram post on Friday. “What are you living for?”
And for those irked that she’s not following through on her promise to head to the Great White North? Dunham has some choice words for you.
“For those demanding I move to Canada based on something I said when this man seemed like a steak salesman with a long shot at the presidency: stay busy reveling in your new regime,” she wrote.
Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @theakglassman.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
