Peter Sarsgaard takes blistering swipe at US government

Peter Sarsgaard did not hold back in articulating his thoughts on America’s political divide.

On Friday, July 18, the 54-year-old American actor was given the President’s Award at the opening night of the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

At the festival, Sarsgaard opened up about the current political division in the United States of America in President Donald Trump’s regime.

He said, “As my country retreats from its global responsibilities and tries to go it alone, it is also being divided into factions from within, factions of politics, gender, s**uality, race, Jews split over the war.”

The Presumed Innocent star went on to note that “when there’s a common enemy, there is no going it alone. Enemies are the forces that divide us, that individuate us. We all know who they are.”

Concluding his speech, Sarsgaard quoted Vaclav Havel, Czech playwright and statesman, quipping that “one half of a room cannot remain forever warm while the other half is cold.”

Referring to the 2024 U.S. presidential elections, the Jarhead actor stated, “I don’t know that you could tell who I voted for. I mean, you could probably tell I didn’t vote for Trump, right? But I wouldn’t say that Biden was my person either. I consider myself a humanitarian. Politics are not that interesting to me.”

When Variety reported asked him why he chose to discuss politics in his acceptance speech, Sarsgaard replied, “To me, it is not political at all to say we’re being divided into smaller and smaller groups.”

Explaining his stance, the Golden Globe nominee clarified, “This is the way authoritarianism works, right? They’re making you feel bigger and that person feels smaller. You are worried about your job, your status, being deported, all that sort of stuff, so if you’re safe, you are holding onto the life raft. Maybe you’re a little sad about the other person who’s drowning, but you hold on.”

Peter Sarsgaard elucidated that he chose Havel’s quote because for him “that’s just a humanitarian” statement rather than “political.”