Viewers on both sides of the Canadian-US border have reacted with a mixture of outrage to shrugs over the fact that President Donald J. Trump had been edited out of The Canadian Broadcasting Corporations version of 1992’s Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.
The Scene in Question
Trump appears for some seven seconds in a scene set at the Plaza Hotel in New York when Macauley Culkin’s character, Kevin McCallister, asks him for directions to the lobby.
CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson confirmed the cut this past Thursday:
“As is often the case with feature films adapted for television, Home Alone 2 was edited for time,” Thompson said. “The scene with Donald Trump was one of several that were cut from the movie as none of them were integral to the plot. These edits were done in 2014 when we first acquired the film and before Mr. Trump was elected president.”
According to Matt Damon, Trump appeared in the film because he used to have a clause in his contracts which obligated studios to write a part for him in their movies if they used one of his buildings.
Trump cameos were filmed for several movies, including Scent of a Woman, but didn’t make the final cut.
When asked to share his thoughts, Trump blamed hunky Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
I guess Justin T doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade! https://t.co/sndS7YvIGR
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2019
The movie will never be the same! (just kidding) https://t.co/FogquK1ei7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2019
Oh, Canada…
As a Canadian, I have no opinion on this but do defend against the accusation it was a politically motivated decision.
Our current government doesn’t have time for such pettiness. No one cares enough and removing the presence of the U.S. President from the almost 30-year-old movie doesn’t really accomplish anything.
Not during hockey season anyway eh?
