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Opinion

Will Donald Trump crash the Golden Globes?

By David Horsey
Los Angeles Times Exclusive

With the Golden Globes on Sunday, we have entered the heart of the awards season. The Grammys are coming up and, at the end of February, the big one: the Academy Awards. With so much attention aimed at so many stars, how will the country’s biggest political prima donna be able to resist a grab for the spotlight?

For more than half a year, Donald Trump has demonstrated the power of celebrity. He has taken and held the lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination largely through his ability to hog attention. The media reaction to Trump has been truly Pavlovian; Trump rings the bell of controversy, and political reporters and pundits start salivating and wagging their tails.

MORE: Political commentary from David Horsey >>

This last week, Trump managed to grab a prominent spot on the cable and broadcast news shows for several days with the cheapest of cheap shots: attacking Bill Clinton’s legendary horniness. In the 1990s, comedians and cartoonists mined the details of Clinton’s seamy sex life for every last ounce of satire. Who knew anyone could still find a nugget of interest in this overworked material?

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Apparently Trump knew. Just a few tweets about the randy days of Hillary Clinton’s once-wayward husband got Trump another several days of free publicity. Trump is hooked on the attention. Whenever the political chatter begins to veer toward other candidates, The Donald pulls up Twitter and sends out another 140 characters of insult and bombast.

Soon, the Hollywood stars will begin striding down the red carpets, getting interviews and face time on camera. How can Trump not want to be there, too? Maybe he will not physically crash the party, but he doesn’t have to. Imagine if Jeffrey Tambor picks up some gold for his portrayal of a transsexual in “Transparent” or Eddie Redmayne is a winner for a similar role in “The Danish Girl.” Trump could quickly tweet something about perverts and political correctness and instantly be in the news. What if Julia Louis-Dreyfus gets another award for “Veep,” in which she plays a self-promoting, wildly incompetent female president? The Trump tweet comparing Julia to Hillary writes itself.

And, should “Max Max: Fury Road” come up with a Golden Globe, Trump could boldly tweet a claim to be the perfect leader for a dystopian future where everyone is angry and the biggest bully rules. For once, he would not be exaggerating.

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la-1491523602-y7ephyarj1-snap-image  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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la-1491368625-0bgh58ihw8-snap-image  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Republicans are trying to ignore the FBI elephant in the room.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Donald Trump pushes against the pillars of democracy.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
The small print on the red Trump cap.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los angeles Times)
Donald Trump has tweets on the brain.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Steve Bannon puts Rex Tillerson in his place.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
The winners and losers in Paul Ryan's healthcare plan.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Tillerson and Pence try to quiet Trump's brash outbursts.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Donald Trump is drenched by leaks.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Bernie Sander's takes the lead in anti-Trump resistance.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
ICE immigration raids tear apart families.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump administration hits a wall of resistance on the West Coast.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
The president of the United States rationalizes Putin's political murders.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump news takes over the media.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump has a curious cast running his White House reality show.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump and Bannon want to rule by edict, with no criticism allowed.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
It's easier to think about sex than climate change.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Donald Trump leads the cavalry charge at Standing Rock.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him.
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Trump inspires millions to take to the streets -- to oppose him.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump takes the oath and takes offense.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump and Putin may be creating their own new world order.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Mainly B-list bands play at Donald Trump's inaugural celebration.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Trump voters demean rich celebrities -- after electing one as president.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Will Donald Trump remodel the White House in the style of the Kremlin?
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
House Republicans prepare to set off a land rush to develop federal lands.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Most Americans love their country, but are not so fond of their fellow Americans.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Dread of the Trump presidency is weighing on many American families.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Donald Trump has the whole world in his hands.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
A look back at the characters in a crazy political year.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
If Democrats wanted to win working class voters, they should have nominated Bernie Sanders.
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Top of the Ticket cartoon  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Flashers need to keep up with the sexting world
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Cartoon caption contest winner at the DENT conference in Sun Valley, Idaho: Jon Duval, executive director of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Old radicals and big media descend on Selma
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Old radicals and big media descend on Selma  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Ann Coulter is a creature of conservatism and pop culture
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Horsey imagined the creation of the Ann Coulter phenomenon in this cartoon from 2007.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Educated girls are a threat to fundamentalist extremists
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This David Horsey drawing is a reconfiguration of a cartoon he first published in 2006.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy share weird, antique racial bias
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Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers, should give Cliven Bundy a call. After Sterling loses his NBA franchise and the deadbeat Nevada rancher loses his cattle, the two old racists will both need a buddy. Maybe they can team up together and open an all-white rodeo.   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Putin's Ukraine incursion brings back the bad old bear
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Besides sending a chill up the spine of the international community, Vladimir Putin has accomplished one other thing by seizing Crimea and threatening the rest of Ukraine: Putin has brought back the bear.   (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Crackpot Cliven Bundy waves the flag and flouts the law
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The right-wing insurrection at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville, Nev., has taken another weird turn with new revelations about the family history of Cliven Bundy.  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Koch brothers and big utilities campaign to unplug solar power
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Cliven Bundy's militiamen are neither terrorists nor patriots
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Corporate success should be shared with workers, not just CEOs
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Obscenely high CEO salaries are stark marker of U.S. wealth gap
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Stabbings at Pennsylvania school add a new wrinkle to gun debate
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Ft. Hood shooting is part of the scenery in a gun-crazy nation
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
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David Horsey / Los Angeles Times  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Rich gain clout as Supreme Court kills political spending limits
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Horsey on Hollywood | Hollywood action movies: Could they be any worse?
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
FBI stung Sen. Yee, but Sacramento's worse corruption is legal
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
G-7 expels Putin from a club to which he no longer wants to belong
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Horsey on Hollywood | A flood of reaction to 'Noah'
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)
Democrats may face bigger Obamacare blowback from voters in 2016
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See full story»  (David Horsey / Los Angeles Times)

Note to readers: Watch for an expanded version of my Trump-on-the-red-carpet cartoon in Saturday’s edition of The Times and see what all the other characters have to say.

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Opinion
David Horsey

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist David Horsey is a former political commentator for the Los Angeles Times. Syndicated by Tribune Media Services, David’s work has appeared in hundreds of media outlets. After graduating from the University of Washington, Horsey entered journalism as a political reporter. His multifaceted career has taken him to national political party conventions, presidential primaries, the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl, assignments in Europe, Japan and Mexico, and two extended stints working at the Hearst Newspapers Washington Bureau. As a Rotary Foundation scholar, Horsey earned an M.A. in international relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Seattle University. Horsey has published eight books of cartoons, including his two most recent, “Draw Quick, Shoot Straight” (2007) and “Refuge of Scoundrels” (2013). For escape, he spends a few weeks each year working as a cowboy in Montana.

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