A number of celebrities showed up at the DNC, but one of them in particular got Republicans' blood boiling: Bradley Cooper.
The reason for this? He played the right-wing, pro-gun Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in American Sniper, so conservatives were counting on him to represent their values, according to Entertainment Weekly. During the convention, conservatives began expressing disappointment over Cooper's presence.
I have a list of celebrities that support Socialism I refuse to spend another $ on. Add this one. Boycott them all. pic.twitter.com/uOFMkxSvRY
— Nat Shupe (@NatShupe) July 28, 2016
Bradley Cooper at DNC?! Guess I've seen my last Bradley Cooper movie. Ewww Ick
— The Real ExTex (@theRealExTex) July 28, 2016
Unfortunately for them, these were the values of the character, not Cooper himself — and he's surprised that he needed to clarify this.
“I was not expecting that,” he said on The Late Late Show With James Corden. “Republicans were up in arms that I was there watching the president speak."
The uproar about Cooper's attendance is like “the mob being mad at [Robert] De Niro for being in The Intern," his fellow guest Todd Phillips echoed.
If Trump supporters weren't already angry that Cooper was at the DNC, they'll be angry about his feelings toward Obama. "I think he was an incredible president,” he told Corden.
Let that serve as a friendly reminder that the views of a character do not represent the views of an actor.