Michael Moore extended an unusual invitation to the audience at his Broadway show on Tuesday night: Let’s go to Trump Tower and protest against the president.
The filmmaker and activist then announced that there were buses waiting outside to take them to the demonstration. Dozens of theater-goers not only cheered the announcement, they lined up in front of the theater to participate.
Video shared by Moore on Facebook showed protesters, including actor Mark Ruffalo, shouting slogans like “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!” as they rode through the streets of Manhattan.
When the buses reached Trump Tower, Moore and Ruffalo, who were joined by actors Olivia Wilde, Marisa Tomei, Fisher Stevens, Zoe Kazan and Tom Sturridge, held a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed during the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.
“Heather Heyer, say her name! Heather Heyer, say her name!” the group chanted.
Before his one-man show “The Terms of My Surrender” kicked off on Tuesday, Moore teased the impending bus trip on Twitter. He later addressed President Donald Trump directly, promising to “pay you a visit tonight.”
According to the AP, hundreds of protesters have gathered outside Trump Tower since the president arrived on Monday.
Moore’s trip to the midtown building happened just hours after Trump gave a heated press conference in which he again blamed “both sides” for the Charlottesville protests, and compared founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
“We just wanted to remind the world that Trump does not speak for this country,” Moore told CNN’s Don Lemon. “He hasn’t from day one. He doesn’t represent the majority of this country.”
The “Fahrenheit 9/11” filmmaker added that Trump was “absolutely a racist,” and challenged America to “stand up” to bigotry.
“If you still support the racist, you are the racist,” Moore said, referring to supporters of Trump. “That has to end ... America has to stand up. We can no longer be mealy-mouthed about this.”