President Trump frequently appeared in television shows and movies before he was elected leader of the free world. One cameo appearance in particular in a 1992 movie is making headlines now. Is there a conspiracy afoot? Lots of Trump supporters seem to think so.
Trump, at the time of the filming of Home Alone 2, was the owner of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He has a very brief cameo appearance in a scene with the movie’s child star, Macaulay Culkin. Culkin asks Trump about the location of the hotel’s lobby and Trump points him in the right direction. Trump only says seven words – “down the hall and to the left.” The scene has been edited out of the Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s (CBC) version of the film and some Trump supporters have discovered that fact. Cue the outrage.
‘Pathetic’: Canada’s CBC under fire when Trump’s cameo in ‘Home Alone 2’ disappears from Christmas broadcast https://t.co/zJUij9qrLe
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 26, 2019
Though the scene is only a few seconds long, the CBC claims the scene was edited out due to time constraints. Trump’s part of the scene wasn’t the only edit made.
A spokesman for the CBC, Chuck Thompson, confirmed the scene had been cut from the version of the 1992 film that aired in Canada on Christmas Eve, but said the decision was not political. He noted that Trump has been missing from the Canadian broadcaster’s version of the film since before he was even a presidential candidate.
“As is often the case with feature films adapted for television, “Home Alone 2″ was edited for time,” Thompson said in a statement. “The scene with Donald Trump was one of several that were cut from the movie as none of them were integral to the plot. These edits were done in 2014, when we first acquired the film and before Mr. Trump was elected president.”
So, the answer to the question is no, the current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau played no role in eliminating Trump from the movie. He wasn’t Prime Minister in 2014 and Trump was not President of the United States then. This decision wasn’t made due to the political disagreements between the two men, that often turn into personal attacks. It is odd, though, that of all the scenes to edit, CBC chose to edit out the owner of the hotel, a famous New York personality. Here’s the scene before and after the edit:
A Candadian TV Channel cut President Trump out of their Christmas airing of Home Alone 2.
He just mentioned the movie in a teleconference with US troops on Christmas Eve.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is real. pic.twitter.com/QbkRVA3zAm
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) December 26, 2019
CBC ran Home Alone 2 on Christmas Eve. Coincidentally, during a teleconference call with troops, also on Christmas Eve, Trump mentioned his appearance in the movie. He described his inclusion in the movie as “an honor”.
“A lot of people mention it every year, especially around Christmas. They say, ‘I just saw you.’ Especially young kids, they say, “I just saw you on the movie.” They don’t see me on television as they — as they do in the movie. But it’s been a good movie. And I was a little bit younger, to put it mildly,” Trump said. “It was an honor to do it. And it turned out to be a very big hit, obviously. It’s a big Christmas hit — one of the biggest. So it’s an honor to be involved in something like that. You always like to see success.”
The timing of Trump’s remarks and his supporters noticing that he is edited out of the version that ran on the Canadian broadcast was enough for the conspiracy theorists to cry foul. Probably not realizing that the edit had been made back in 2014, Trump supporters thought they were connecting dots that really aren’t there. Trump wasn’t even running for president in 2014, much less elected president. In my opinion, that part of the scene is an odd choice to end up on the cutting room’s floor, but that is the decision that someone made at the time.
Trump took the discovery in stride. He joked about it and said maybe Justin Trudeau made the decision because of disagreements over NATO dues or trade deals.
I guess Justin T doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade! https://t.co/sndS7YvIGR
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2019
So, there’s no need to worry. This wasn’t a diss to the president. Everyone can go back to enjoying the time with family and friends as we approach a brand new year.