Patti LuPone Says the Country Is 'Doomed' Because of Donald Trump

Patti LuPone is not feeling optimistic about the future of the United States under the rule of President Donald Trump. The Broadway icon, known for her roles in Evita and Gypsy, spoke candidly about the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic and rising death rates to Variety for its 2020 Power of Women issue.

While LuPone has been social distancing at her home in rural Connecticut, she has become furious at the government's chaotic response to COVID-19. "Now they say Broadway will be shuttered until Labor Day. Well, we all know that's not true. I think it's going to come back at the earliest in January and maybe not even then. It's very, very depressing and very worrisome," she told the magazine.

Trump is 100 percent to blame for the direction in which the country is headed, LuPone added, and she has no faith that Joe Biden will defeat the current president in the upcoming election. "This country is doomed. I think it is a failed experiment," she said. "I don't see us pulling ourselves out of this. I think we're heading into either fascism or a dictatorship. I think Trump will win a second term, and I think I'll move to Ireland."

LuPone made it clear she isn't joking about relocating, revealing that she obtained her EU passport and is looking to buy property in Ireland, where she filmed Penny Dreadful. "I have a finite amount of hours left in my life," said the actress, 71. "I want to be able to look at nature and go, 'Oh right. That's what it's all about.'"

This is far from the first time LuPone has made her thoughts about Trump clear. While appearing on the Tony Awards red carpet in 2017, where she was honored for her role in War Paint, the performer said she would refuse to perform if Trump came to see her. Asked for the reason she would refuse to perform, she said at the time, "Because I hate the motherf—er. How's that?"

Also in 2017, LuPone appeared on Broadway Channel's Show People With Paul Wontorek, where she said of Trump, "He's a f—ing nut. He's certifiably insane, and he has compromised this country," as per The Hollywood Reporter. She also compared the president's actions to "treason," asking angrily, "Why haven't we done anything about it? Why is this taking so long? What the f— is going on in this country?"