Ryan Gosling sparked the ire of Fox And Friends hosts during their program on Friday after the actor stated that the moon landing in 1969 was a “human achievement” rather than an achievement on the part of Americans only.
The Fox hosts criticised Hollywood, in general, insinuating that they are wary of attributing success to American people for fear of ostracizing those around the world.
In The Place Beyond The Pine star’s new movie, a biopic revolving around the exploits of Neil Armstrong, producers decided it would be best to avoid putting an American flag on the moon, due to the fact other countries contributed in smaller ways to the 1969 mission.
Via the Washington Post, Gosling said to reporters from The Telegraph that it was an attempt at American humility, citing that Armstrong rarely took credit for the moon landing, and instead, deferred to the 400,000 people who contributed.
“He deferred the focus of himself to the 400,000 people who made the mission possible,” the actor remarked. Gosling’s statements go along with Armstrong’s very first statement when he arrived on the moon: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The host, Pete Hegseth, called out Gosling, describing him as an idiot, who’s also Canadian. He added that Ryan was a “global citizen” who thinks that it was merely “humans” who decided to take a trip to the moon.
Fox & Friends is pissed that @RyanGosling said the moon landing was a "human achievement" bc #actuallyMERICA #actuallyCAPITALISM pic.twitter.com/vryh41wqZh
— Grace Bennett (@gracel_bennett) August 31, 2018
According to Pete, it was the United States’ decision to take on the task, fueled by capitalism and Soviet rivalry during the height of the Cold War. Hegseth claimed actors in Hollywood are “revisionists” who “preach to us.”
While some reports have claimed they compared it to NFL players kneeling in protest of police brutality, in actuality, Ainsley Earhardt used the NFL controversy as an example of the way in which Hollywood and other elites are unpatriotic.
“They’re scared to use the flag. It’s Hollywood,” the host remarked. While other nations did contribute to the 1969 mission to the moon, it’s true that, by and large, it was an American venture, funded by American taxpayer dollars, and facilitated by American astronauts.