Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer
Sean Michael SpicerPsaki signals she's open to reviving 'Skype seats' amid pandemic Newsmax rescinds Spicer's White House Correspondents' Association application: report Sean Spicer applies to join White House Correspondents' Association MORE called on actor Tom Hanks to reach out to President Trump
Donald TrumpNoem touts South Dakota coronavirus response, knocks lockdowns in CPAC speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom — a story of two embattled governors McCarthy: 'I would bet my house' GOP takes back lower chamber in 2022 MORE to discuss his policy concerns after "The Post" actor said he wouldn't screen the new film for Trump.
Spicer said on Fox News that Hanks should "take the lead" and discuss issues with the president instead of refusing to screen his new film at the White House.
“I think the idea that it’s become cool to say I won’t even show up to see the president of the United States is a sad commentary on where we are,” Spicer said.
“I think that for people like Tom Hanks, who I think is a great film producer and director, he should take the lead maybe say, you know what? I want to go talk to the president about these important issues that were brought up in my movie in The Post.”
Hanks stars as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee in "The Post," which shows the newspaper's battle with President Nixon's administration to uncover and publish the Pentagon Papers, the secret government records of the Vietnam War.
The actor suggested that Trump was mimicking Nixon's withholding of the papers by his attacks on the media.
"Right now, without a doubt, there are people in power trying to — if not quash or stop the right to publication, denigrate it to the point they are saying there is no truth to it whatsoever," Hanks said.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham also panned the award-winning actor, saying Hanks should "cast away" instead of giving political commentary, referencing the film in which Hanks's character is stranded on an island after a plane crash.
Ingraham said Hanks "kind of flops as a political commentator and pundit."
