Voters are divided over potential presidential candidate Donald Trump. Some folks think he’s the outsider that our broken political system needs, financially independent and willing to speak his mind. Other people think he’s a dangerously xenophobic attention hog who is intentionally dividing the nation with distracting, argumentative rhetoric. It takes all kinds, apparently.
But one thing is for certain, at least as far as movie-lovers are concerned: it could be even worse. For every movie that celebrates the dignity of the American President, there is at least one more film about a nightmare scenario in which some corrupt bastard rises to the highest office in the land, and uses all of that political power for personal, violent and generally destructive ends. There are an awful lot of terrible movie presidents out there, and at least some of them would (probably) be even worse than Donald Trump.
Also: Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders: Who Was In the Worst Romantic-Comedy?
Well, maybe. Anyway, depending on your political views, the terrible movie presidents we are about to highlight in the slideshow below might very well embody the worst Commander-in-Chiefs imaginable. They’ll either make you feel a lot better about the possibility that Donald Trump could theoretically become the President of the United States of America, or represent exactly what you think would happen if he actually takes office.
And hey, if you actually like Donald Trump, and are seriously planning to vote for him, you probably can’t argue with this list. Obviously, you think these presidents would be a LOT worse than Trump. So just sit back, relax, and take a gander at the worst movie presidents filmmakers have concocted over the decades.
10 Movie Presidents Who Would Probably Be Worse Than Donald Trump:
Top Photo: Paramount Pictures
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
10 Movie Presidents Who Would Probably Be Worse Than Donald Trump
-
President Raymond Becker
From: The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
President Raymond Becker is Roland Emmerich's ham-fisted stand-in for Vice President Cheney. In The Day After Tomorrow, his decision to value economic stability over environmental issues literally dooms the planet and forces the population of the United States to immigrate to Mexico. Whoops!
Photo: 20th Century Fox
-
President Edward Bennett
From: Clear and Present Danger (1994)
In the hit adaptation of Tom Clancy's political thriller, our hero Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) discovers a secret war being fought against Columbian drug lords, and eventually learns that the conspiracy goes all the way to the Oval Office, leading to one of the best presidential shouting matches in movie history: "How dare YOU, sir?!"
Photo: Paramount Pictures
-
President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho
From: Idiocracy (2006)
In the future of Mike Judge's Idiocracy, the average intelligence of the human race has dropped dramatically, leading to a future in which America is run by a wacky populist who nearly starves the people to death by watering the crops with delicious sports beverages.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
-
President Max Frost
From: Wild in the Streets (1968)
In this fear-mongering political screed, a young charismatic troublemaker rises to the highest office in the land after the voting age gets lowered to 14. Soon, the mandatory retirement age is 30 and non-compliant old fogies are forced to take LSD. Kids these days!
Photo: American International Pictures
-
President Lex Luthor
From: Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)
A billionaire uses his media savvy to become president, even though everybody knows he's basically a supervillain. Sound familiar? In the animated feature Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, President Lex Luthor actually does a lot of good in the oval office but eventually turns on the world's finest heroes out of a personal vendetta, instead of using them to help save the world from an imminent, catastrophic asteroid impact.
Photo: Warner Home Video
-
President Merkin Muffley
From: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Stanley Kubrick's scathing political satire pushes the Cold War to its illogical extreme, in which an impotent, mewling president is completely unable to stop the nuclear holocaust, or even have a conversation with his fellow world leaders without stuttering.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
-
The President
From: Wag the Dog (1997)
The unnamed president from Barry Levinson's biting farce (not pictured), requires the expertise of a political fixer (Robert De Niro) and a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) to distract from horrifying accusations of pedophilia. An elite team of publicists concoct a phony war in Albania to change the headlines, and make Americans forget that their Commander-in-Chief is a monster.
Photo: New Line Cinema
-
The President-For-Life
From: Escape from L.A. (1996)
John Carpenter's jokier sequel to the sci-fi classic Escape from New York takes place in a future where a Republican candidate predicted a natural disaster, and used his newfound following to be declared President-for-Life. Played by Cliff Robertson, he's a spineless bastard who is willing to sacrifice his own daughter's life in order to save face, and continue deporting undesirables to the island of Los Angeles.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
-
President Alan Richmond
From: Absolute Power (1997)
An "innocent" thief (Clint Eastwood) witnesses a cold-blooded murder by Secret Service agents, right in front of the American president (Gene Hackman), who decides to cover the whole affair up to protect his public image. Priorities!
Photo: Columbia Pictures
-
President Greg Stillson
From: The Dead Zone (1983)
In David Cronenberg's adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel, Christopher Walken plays a psychic who accidentally shakes hands with a presidential candidate, and witnesses a future in which his maniacal ego dooms the world to World War III. What would you do in that horrifying situation?
Photo: Paramount Pictures
