Meghan McCain: ‘This Meryl Streep speech is why Trump won’

{mosads}Streep on Sunday night gave a speech while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 74th annual Golden Globes, where she railed against the president-elect.

 

During the speech, she referenced the time Trump imitated a disabled New York Times reporter on the campaign trail — though she never mentioned the president-elect by name.

 

“There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good — there was nothing good about it — but it was effective and did its job,” Streep said.

 

She was referring to Trump’s imitation of reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a congenital condition affecting the joints. She said that particular performance “made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth.”

“It was that moment, when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter — someone he out-ranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back,” she continued.

“It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie; it was in real life.”

“This instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform — by someone powerful — it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose,” Streep said.