Actress Jane Fonda criticized Democratic leaders as “not good enough” and accused Trump of authoritarianism during a CNN appearance promoting her relaunch of the Committee for the First Amendment, inspired by her father Henry Fonda’s role in the 1940s group.
“No president has ever sent troops into the Democratic cities across the country saying full force,” Fonda said. “No president, as far as I know, has tried to control the Federal Reserve, the central bank. He is amassing power in a way that will destroy our democracy. And so we‘re going to stand up. We‘re creatives. We‘re storytellers. We can do it creatively. We can have a good time while we do it.”
Fonda then expressed little hope in the leadership of the Democrats: “We‘re going to have a good group, and we‘re going to have fun doing it. But I also have a PAC, a climate PAC that elects people all over the country because I don‘t feel that our leaders are doing what they need to do. And if you can‘t change the people, change the people. That‘s what we‘re doing.”
In a previous statement, Fonda called upon other artists in the industry to fight against “forces of repression” and a “coordinated campaign to silence critics,” claiming:
“We know there is power in solidarity and strength in numbers. We will stand together — fiercely united — to defend free speech and expression from this assault. This is not a partisan issue. That is why we urge every American who cares about the First Amendment — the cornerstone of our democracy — and every artist around the globe who looks to the United States as a beacon of freedom to join us. And to those who profit from our work while threatening the livelihoods of everyday working people, bowing to government censorship and cowering to brute intimidation: We see you, and history will not forget. This will not be the last you hear from us.”
Jane Fonda says some Trump voters are going to have “buyers remorse.”
“78 million people voted for Trump. They’re not all MAGA. A lot of them were just people who were just really angry and really hurting….those people are going to have buyers remorse”. pic.twitter.com/HzxxPymcYC
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) October 2, 2025
