The False Rumor People Believe About Nicole Kidman & Donald Trump
In 2020, Nicole Kidman came under some heat (and praise by some) for allegedly joining unlikely political adviser Kid Rock in coming out as pro-Trump. Not only that, but it was alleged that the Australian-American actress claimed that Donald Trump was the best president in the history of the country, and many people believed that she said this. However, notice how there aren't any quotation marks there? This wouldn't be the first time a celebrity has been questionably accused of being a Trump supporter — it's also happened to Travis Kelce.
In Kidman's case, a social media post went viral that included her purported statement and a link to an article on the Tech 2 Knowledge website, which made the same claim about her Trump praise. But there's a reason you shouldn't believe everything you read or see on the internet.
Fact-checkers with the AP investigated the article and viral Facebook post shortly after its circulation. It appears that the post was using a 2017 BBC interview Kidman participated in with Victoria Derbyshire to spin its story. The result of the investigation was that at no point in the 15-minute interview did Kidman say that Trump was the best president, nor did she say that people should respect him, as was also claimed. The AP wrote off the content of the post and article as false, however, many people did believe the rumor, thanks to what Kidman actually said.
What did Kidman actually say?
During her interview with Victoria Derbyshire, Nicole Kidman did provide some quotes that could be misconstrued, if you're willing to stretch them a long way. To start things off, Kidman noted in the interview that she generally doesn't like to get involved with politics. However, when the topic was brought up, she did say that people should support Trump as the president. "He's now elected and we as a country need to support whoever's the president because that's what the country's based on," she said (via The Washington Post). "However that happened, he's there, and let's go."
After the interview gained viral traction with comments going both ways for Kidman, she spoke to "Access Hollywood" to clarify her statement. "I was trying to stress that I believe in democracy and the American Constitution, and it was that simple," she said (via AP). Apparently, she was not endorsing Donald Trump like Dr. Phil did, but rather stating that people should get behind him now that he's been elected, since that's the very thing that makes America so great.