One of Home Alone 2‘s many curiosities includes a brief appearance by U.S. President Donald Trump.
He appears for just a few seconds, answering “down the hall and to the left” when Kevin McAllister asks him where the hotel lobby is.
Until recently just a quirky cameo, Trump’s flash in the film is now the topic of a political act of war. That’s because Canada’s national broadcaster cut Trump’s scene from all CBC airings of Home Alone 2.
As you might imagine, Trump and the Fox News crowd are not amused:
I guess Justin T doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade! https://t.co/sndS7YvIGR
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2019
That there is the President of the United States hinting at a conspiracy that Justin Trudeau forced the CBC to cut Donald Trump from Home Alone 2. Amazing.
The CBC denies political motivation. The broadcaster says it cut the scene when it acquired the film in 2014, before Trump was announced his presidential candidacy. The reason? To save time.
“As is often the case with feature films adapted for television, Home Alone 2 was edited for time. The scene with Donald Trump was one of several that were cut from the movie as none of them were integral to the plot,” according to a CBC spokesperson.
Here’s Trump on his very big, very successful participation in global Christmas culture: “A lot of people mention it every year, especially around Christmas. They say, ‘I just saw you.’ Especially young kids, they say, ‘I just saw you in the movie.’ And it turned out to be a very big hit, obviously. It’s a big Christmas hit — one of the biggest. So it’s an honor to be involved in something like that. You always like to see success.”
Home Alone 2 was the second highest-grossing film of 1992, earning $359 million in the year against a budget of $28 million. It is not clear how much Trump was paid to appear in the film.