President Joe Biden has so far remained lukewarm toward striking Hollywood actors and writers even though both unions enthusiastically backed his 2020 presidential campaign.
Both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America publicly supported the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020, while denouncing then-President Donald Trump. The WGA’s PAC officially endorsed Biden, while SAG-AFTRA posted a congratulatory message on inauguration day.
For all their efforts to boost Biden, however, the unions have received only middling support in return.
The White House issued a statement about the strikes in July and has since remained noticeably silent on the subject.
“The President believes all workers — including actors — deserve fair pay and benefits,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in a statement in July. “The President supports workers’ right to strike and hopes the parties can reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”
WGA West PAC Endorses Joe Biden & Kamala Harris https://t.co/3FwGGw2KEh
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) October 13, 2020
Congratulations to @JoeBiden on being sworn in as @POTUS and to @KamalaHarris on her historic inauguration as @VP. #InaugurationDay https://t.co/Wzy75xL1zD
— SAG-AFTRA (@sagaftra) January 20, 2021
Biden appears to be walking a tightrope between the striking talent and the major Hollywood studios, whose executives poured massive amounts of fundraising energy into his 2020 campaign.
With no end in sight, the strikes are also failing to generate much interest from the general public.
As Breitbart News reported, a recent poll showed that while Americans support the striking writers and actors more than the studios, a clear majority of Americans either do not care or feel ambivalent about the situation.
SAG-AFTRA infamously threatened to expel Trump from its membership following the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, leading the president to voluntarily resign from the guild, slamming it for its “blatant attempt at free media attention to distract from your dismal record as a union.”
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com