American actor Richard Gere called President Donald Trump a “bully” and a “thug” on Saturday during an awards ceremony in Spain, and said the United States was in a “very dark place”. The 75-year-old, who received an International Goya Award at Spain’s top film honours, warned that authoritarianism is on the rise “everywhere”. “We’re in a very dark place in America, where we have a bully, a thug, who’s the president of the United States. But it’s not just in the US, it’s everywhere,” he said. “Authoritarianism takes us all over.”

The “Pretty Woman” and “American Gigolo” actor was also highly critical of Trump during a press conference in Granada on Friday. During Saturday’s gala, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas presented Gere with the honorary award for “his extraordinary contribution to the art of filmmaking” and his social commitment to various causes, including the plight of refugees and the homeless. During his speech, Gere warned of the “dark marriage” of power and money “like we’ve never seen before”.

“The fact that these irresponsible and perhaps dangerously corrosive billionaires are running everything in America right now is a danger for everyone on this planet,” he said. Gere is also a longtime champion of Tibet who has met frequently with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader Beijing accuses of fomenting separatism in the Himalayan region. Last year, Gere and his Spanish wife, the publicist Alejandra Silva, 41, moved to Madrid with their two sons. — AFP