President Donald Trump said during an exclusive Oval Office interview with The Daily Caller that he will not be watching a new film on Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission to the moon after the film’s director decided not to show the planting of the American flag.
The film, “First Man,” starring Ryan Gosling, has come under fire in recent days for deliberately leaving out a scene showing Armstrong planting the American flag on the surface of the moon. “I think this was widely regarded in the end as a human achievement [and] that’s how we chose to view it,” Gosling said.
“It’s unfortunate,” Trump said when asked about the decision, adding “it’s almost like they’re embarrassed at the achievement coming from America, I think it’s a terrible thing.” The president continued, “when you think of Neil Armstrong and when you think of the landing on the moon, you think about the American flag.” (RELATED: Trump Says Anti-Kavanaugh Protestors Are ‘An Embarrassment To The Country’)
“For that reason, I wouldn’t even want to watch the movie,” Trump said of the film.
The president is not the only Republican lawmaker to weigh in on the interview with Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton mocking the decision. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin also tacitly condemned the move.
#proudtobeanAmerican #freedom #honor #onenation #Apollo11 #July1969 #roadtoApollo50 pic.twitter.com/gApIwLzaJw
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) September 3, 2018
This is total lunacy. And a disservice at a time when our people need reminders of what we can achieve when we work together. The American people paid for that mission,on rockets built by Americans,with American technology & carrying American astronauts. It wasn’t a UN mission. https://t.co/eGwBq7hj8C
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 31, 2018