Richard Gere’s blunt words for President Donald Trump took off on social media over the weekend, leading White House communications director Steven Cheung to cling to wacky sex rumors about the actor and a gerbil in response.
The actor and activist — in a clip from an interview with The Associated Press last month — sounded off on the Trump administration dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development last year, slamming the president for cancelling most of its foreign aid programs on “day one” of his second term.
“It was insane,” said Gere, a Trump critic.
“He wouldn’t even know what it stands for, USAID, and he has idiots around him who have the same ignorance about it.”
He continued, “Are we ashamed of it? Yes, that was the good part of us. He keeps saying we’re the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world. Well, what do you do if you’re the wealthiest, most powerful? You help people. You help people who don’t have healthcare.”
The clip, shared by @MarcoFoster_ on X, has garnered 1.3 million views on the platform since Sunday.
Gere’s Trump takedown eventually got the attention of Cheung, who is known for his résumé of profane outbursts on X.
The communications chief resorted to a screenshot addressing a “highly questionable” claim in an apparent effort to mock the actor.
“Sorry, not going to listen to a guy that may have put a gerbil up his ass,” wrote Cheung alongside a snap of a MEL Magazine article addressing weird, long-debunked rumors that the actor once got a gerbil stuck up his behind and, thus, had to go to the emergency room to remove the critter from his rectum.
The claim — which is tied to the alleged sexual practice of gerbilling — had no weight to it when National Enquirer’s Mike Walker dug for the facts in a story for the tabloid, per a Snopes article.
Gere himself even addressed the matter in a 2008 interview with Metro, referring to the talk around him putting a “hamster up his bum” as one of the “crazy … infamous” stories he’s encountered about himself in the press.
“I just decided not to pay attention to any of it. It’s a waste of energy,” Gere said.