Former President Donald Trump has trashed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s wife’s Netflix documentary on Michelle Obama, calling the 2020 movie a “puff piece.”
Fact check: True, and even an understatement. In reality, the reviews for Becoming were actually much worse, with left-wing critics panning it as “bland,” “self-celebratory,” and “paper-thin.”
On Tuesday, Trump spoke to supporters at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, just hours after being arraigned in federal court in Miami after the Biden administration had him indicted over his handling of classified documents. In a defiant speech, the former president promised to emerge triumphant and coined a new nickname for Jack Smith — “Deranged Jack Smith” — and then blasted the Netflix documentary.
“He’s a raging and uncontrolled Trump hater, as is his wife, who happened to be the producer of that Michelle Obama puff piece. This is the guy I’ve got,” Trump said.
President Donald Trump’s Full Speech In Bedminster Last Night pic.twitter.com/YJK63We4Gj
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) June 14, 2023
Jack Smith is married to documenntary filmmaker Katy Chevigny, who served as a producer on Becoming. She has produced and directed numerous prestige documentaries through her company, Big Mouth Productions. Some of her titles were picked up for broadcast by NBC and PBS.
Becoming, which is based on Michelle Obama’s memoir of the same name, follows the former first lady during her book tour during which she interacts with Americans from various walks of life.
The movie emerged as part of the ongoing collaboration between Netflix and the Obamas, who struck a lucrative production deal with the streamer in 2018. Former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice sat on Netflix’s board of directors at the time of its release.
As Breitbart News reported, reviews from mainstream outlets were dismissive of the documentary.
Time magazine concluded that Michelle Obama “deserves more than a worshipful gaze” that the documentary offers, while Indiewire was even harsher, calling the movie “bland” and assigning it a C+ rating.
The New York Times concluded that the documentary feels “routine” and that many elements come off as “stagy,” while New York magazine’s Vulture described Becoming as “self-celebratory” and “guarded.” “
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com