David Mamet says Trump was 'best president since Abraham Lincoln,' is a 'scrapper' who 'loves his country'

David Mamet loves Donald Trump. "Trump was the best president since Abraham Lincoln," Mamet told Unherd's Florence Read. "He brought peace to the Middle East. He closed the border. He made us an energy exporter. He had the best rating among African Americans of any president ever. And the country was at peace and prosperous in the world."

The far ranging conversation touched on theater, the art form Mamet has practiced for his entire career, audiences to that work and the changing demographic of Broadway theater goers, and critics, who he said "have always been a bunch of brainless whores."

Of the media, he said "the national press is completely co-opted—it's Pravda. It's absolutely Pravda. No one's going ot put on a play that's not going to be approved by the press. And the press is there to approve the play."

Cancel culture he called "fascism," independent voters, he said, don't even exist. And as for compromise with the left, Mamet said "The conservatives are done with the Left. We’re not looking for anything from the Left because there’s nothing there." 

But for Trump, Mamet had only kind words. 

"All of a sudden, he gets kicked out. And the world is a mess. But because the liberals cannot defend their position, all they can do is indict Trump. He's not generating anger. He's talking to reason. He’s got a big mouth, so do I. The question is, who do you like in a fair fight with your back to the wall? Who would you rather have: Joe Biden, who’s a senile old bag-man, or Donald Trump, who’s a scrapper and loves his country."

As for the conflict in Israel, Mamet laid the blame squarely on Hamas, the body that was voted into power in 2005. "If Hamas had not been voted in, Gaza would be the richest city in the world. It would be Singapore. What are the Jews doing to Gaza? Nothing. They said, take it. PS, they said, if you need medical help come across the border. PS, if you guys are gay, go to Tel Aviv, we’ll welcome you. We aren’t going to kill you, we’re glad to have your business. Gaza is at the end of the Mediterranean, and it’s right off the Suez Canal. It’s the most valuable real estate in the world. And they want to kill the Jews. It doesn’t make sense."