Zoe Saldana says 'cocky and arrogant' Hollywood actors 'bullied' Donald Trump during the election

  • Zoe Saldana said the celebrity community was too cocky during the election
  • The Star Trek actress added that actors created empathy for the billionaire
  • Trump was recently labelled a  bully for his tweets to Congressman John Lewis

Sci-fi queen Zoe Saldana has spoken out against the famously liberal acting community of Hollywood for 'bullying' Donald Trump.

Although the Star Trek actress does not support the president-elect, she believes insults flung at him during the race for the White House turned off much of middle America. 

The 38-year-old said that Hollywood grew 'cocky and arrogant' and became 'bullies' while voicing their distaste for Trump during the election.

Zoe Saldana , 38 (left),  said Hollywood actors 'bullied' Trump after they became too 'cocky and arrogant'. The sci-fi actress added they helped create empathy for the billionaire

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She said: 'We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies.' Saldana explained that by doing so, celebrities created empathy for the billionaire. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy star said: 'We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong... and that created empathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises.'

Trump has been frequently berated himself for bullying tactics, including seemingly mocking a reporter with disabilities. 

Trump launched a Twitter attack on civil rights legend and Congressman John Lewis, a few days before Martin Luther King Jr Day, on Saturday. 

The Georgia Democratic Rep. said he thought Trump was an 'illegitimate president' and that Moscow helped steal the election from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In a tweet Trump said Lewis should 'spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.'

Several users rebuked Trump's remarks, and many have even questioned his intelligence. 

Georgia Democratic Rep John Lewis, was the subject of a Trump tweet storm this weekend. He called the president-elect an 'illegitimate president' on Friday 

Trump tweeted on Saturday that Lewis, a democratic senator in Georgia, 'should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results'

One of the first to do so was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who Tweeted: 'Let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed.'

'John Lewis is an American hero,' Rhode Island representative David Cicilline, said in a tweet directed at Trump. 

'You're a fake billionaire who won't release his taxes. Put down Twitter and get serious about governing.' 

Saldana's analysis echoes comments made by Hawaiian-born Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show this week it was time Americans got behind Trump, who takes office on January 20.

Zoe Saldana's (left) comments echos fellow actress Nicole Kidman (right). The Hawaiian-born Australian actress said it was time Americans got behind their new president. 

She said: 'I just say he's now elected and we as a country need to support whoever's the president because that's what the country's based on. However that happened, he's there, and let's go.'

Saldana, who plays a Cuban gangster's moll in Ben Affleck's prohibition era gangster movie 'Live by Night,' has spoken out frequently against prejudice in Hollywood.

One of the movie's most pleasing aspects, she says, was its unflinching depiction of racism in the Deep South that was so ingrained that police officers and judges were proud to call themselves members of the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist hate group.

The Trump campaign that defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was criticized for stoking racial tensions with its rhetoric against Mexicans and Muslims, but Saldana is hopeful the country will never return to the dark days of segregation.

'I'm learning from (Trump's victory) with a lot of humility,' the mother of two-year-old twin boys told AFP.

'If we have people continue to be strong and educate ourselves and stand by equal rights and treat everyone with respect, we won't go back to those times.' 

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