Daniel Radcliffe has revealed why Donald Trump and Voldemort aren’t so similar to @SkyCinema’s Craig Dillon https://t.co/xiUe9BPc40
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 27, 2016
Between calling Trump surrogate Katrina Pierson a “Death Eater” and claiming her famous Harry Potter villain pales in comparison, author J.K. Rowling seems convinced Donald Trump is the most evil entity known to man. Hell, even a study recently published by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication backed up the writer’s assertion that Lord Voldemort was nowhere near as bad as the Republican nominee. However, it seems Potter himself — actor Daniel Radcliffe — disagrees. Kinda sorta.
During a short red carpet interview with Sky News, reporter Craig Dillon asked Radcliffe about the Internet-famous comparison. His response was… interesting:
“I sort of think Donald Trump might not be as ideologically pure as Voldemort. My thing on Trump is he feels like more of an opportunist. I don’t know how much of this stuff he’s saying he actually really, really believes. And he hides behind the sort of thing of, ‘Oh I’m just an entertainer.’ But that comparison is certainly not without its merits.”
There’s a lot to unpack in Radcliffe’s answer for, depending on how you read it, it may sound like Radcliffe’s suggesting Trump isn’t as bad as Voldemort. Or vice versa. Or something else entirely.
Yes, the popular comparison “is certainly not without its merits,” but the actor seems to think Trump isn’t as “ideologically pure” as his fictional counterpart. In other words, whereas Voldemort consistently strove to improve the magical bloodline by eradicating “Mudbloods” and all other Muggle connections, Trump just says whatever outrageous things he can muster via his dog-whistle brand of politics. Both are pretty awful in different ways, but then again, only one of these demagogues has actually called for and committed heinous atrocities.
This isn’t the first time Radcliffe has chimed in on Trump’s candidacy. Back in June, when the White House hopeful involved himself in Europe’s “Brexit” crisis, Radcliffe opined Trump’s “kind of patriotism” was “scary as sh*t.”