Trump gets unlikely allies in Omar, Pelosi in push to bring key industry back to California
WASHINGTON, DC: In an eyebrow-raising bipartisan alliance, a few staunch critics of Trump have thrown their support behind the president as he aims to bring the motion picture production back to where it began, California.
Along with Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar and former Speaker and Representative Nancy Pelosi, Sen Adam Schiff (D-Calif), who led the impeachment process against Trump in his first term, supported Trump’s federal tax incentive plan to draw major film projects back to where it began.
"We’ve been promoting that for a long time. I’m glad he finally arrived at it," Pelosi told Fox News Digital when asked about the plan on the Capitol grounds.
Schiff tweeted earlier this week that he is "in strong agreement with the president."
He said it is time for Republicans and Democrats to "work together… get this done and bring the movie magic back to America."
Schiff has accused Trump of colluding with Moscow to win the election, and the president has responded by calling him "pencil-neck."
"Congress should immediately take up and pass a federal film tax incentive to bring back these good-paying jobs that we've lost to other countries," he said.
Ilhan Omar supports Trump's move and touts her own efforts
Omar told the outlet a similar refrain, adding that she has worked separately to attract film projects to Minneapolis.
She referenced "Fargo," the 1996 Coen Brothers comedy-crime film starring William H Macy, as an example of Minnesota’s ability to host large projects. The "Mighty Ducks" series starring Emilio Estevez and Joshua Jackson also filmed heavily in the Twin Cities during its 1990s run.
"When I was in the Minnesota House, I was very supportive of Minnesota having subsidies so we can have more movies being made inside Minnesota like the movie ‘Fargo,’" she said.
She said the end of subsidies from St Paul recently "made it less fun trying to run into people who were actually doing the production."
"It could be a really cool thing [and] also bring us money to states that can use it," she added.
Europe is cheaper than Los Angeles to film movies
President Trump appointed actors Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone special envoys to Hollywood.
Earlier, Gibson told Fox News that for a recent film, it was cheaper to fly the entire crew to Europe for three days than to shoot for one day in Los Angeles.
"There’s something really wrong there," he said, adding that another actor, ex-California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger, tried to solve the problem while in office but was met with "obstacles."
"California built the film industry – and we’re ready to bring even more jobs home… Now it’s time for a real federal partnership to Make America Film Again," said California Gov Gavin Newsom.
