Streep v Trump row sparks firestorm on Twitter

A handout photo made available by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) on 09 January 2017 shows Meryl Streep accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement AwardEPA

Meryl Streep did not name Donald Trump in her speech on Sunday's ceremony in Beverly Hills

US President-elect Donald Trump's response to Meryl Streep's attack on him has triggered a firestorm of tweets defending and excoriating the actress.

Mr Trump dismissed Streep as overrated after she took aim at him during a speech at Sunday's Golden Globes.

The Oscar-winning actress received an outpour of praise when she condemned Mr Trump for mocking a disabled reporter.

But some Twitter users were quick to defend Mr Trump, attacking Streep and Hollywood for being out of touch.

Numerous celebrities and Streep supporters took to Twitter to defend the award-winning actress' remarks.

Shonda Rhimes tweets: "How DARE Meryl exercise her right to free speech like that's a thing we are allowed to do here in Ameri-wait...hmm. #MerylStreep".Twitter
Comedia Rachel Dratch tweets: "Anyone who calls #Meryl 'overrated' is unfit to serve."Twitter
Bill McKibben tweets: "Trump's contention that Meryl Streep is 'over-rated' is right up there with the idea that climate change is a Chinese hoax. Just saying."Twitter
Wilmer Valderrama tweets: "#MerylStree your work, your words...& your heart is why you are the history lesson our young generation should aspire to be. #GoldenGlobes"Twitter

Meghan McCain, daughter of Republican Senator John McCain and a Fox news personality, who was a vocal critic of Mr Trump during the presidential campaign, was among the first to criticise Streep's comments.

Meghan McCain tweets: "This Meryl Streep speech is why Trump won. And if people in Hollywood don't start recognizing why and how - you will help him get re-elected."Twitter

Other Twitter users weighed in, claiming that Mr Trump did not mock New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a congenital disorder, at a South Carolina rally in 2015.

Tweet by Stefan MolyneuxTwitter
Scott Presler VA tweets: "Only in Hollywood can a group of bullies congratulate each other on fighting bullying by being bullies."Twitter
Sean Hannity tweets: "This is exactly why Hwood is DYING, what a bunch of hypocrites. Sex, violence, and drivel rule hwood. Turning the channel."Twitter

Mr Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway also came to the president-elect's defence on Monday, accusing Streep of "inciting people's worst instincts".

She also denied that Mr Trump made fun of Mr Kovaleski and instead asked why Streep's "passion for the disabled" did not include a "shout out" to the mentally disabled man in Chicago who was tortured on Facebook Live by four black assailants.

"She sounds like 2014. The election is over. She lost," Ms Conway said on Fox News's Fox & Friends.

"Everybody in that audience, with very few exceptions, was of a single, myopic mind as to how they wanted the election to go and how they expected the election to go," she continued.

"They lost and I really wish she would have stood up last night and said, 'look, I didn't like the election results, but he's our president and we're going to support him.'"

Some Twitter users anticipated Mr Trump's response after the speech, offering what they expected the president-elect to tweet following Streep's remarks.

Comedian Dana Schwartz tweets: "Can't wait for Donald Trump to tweet about how Meryl Streep is overrated"Twitter
Pat Kiernan tweets: "Going to bed now so I can be ready to cover the likely 5 am Trump tweet on Meryl Streep. 'Terrible Speech!' Overrated!'".Twitter
Michael Grant Terry tweets: "Let me beat you to it @realDonaldTrump - 'Dishonest Meryl Streep never was good at that acting thing. What is empathy? Don't need it. Sad."Twitter

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