Bryan Cranston accepts the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for "Network" at the 73rd annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Actor Bryan Cranston came to the defense of the media in what appeared to be a subtle jab at President Donald Trump during his acceptance speech at the Tony Awards on Sunday night.
Cranston, who took home the award for best leading actor for his role as a fictional journalist in the Broadway play “Network,” praised real-life journalists and declared that “the media is not the enemy of the people.”
The “Breaking Bad” star began his speech by saying “finally a straight old white man gets a break,” before dedicating his win to members of the press.
“I would like to dedicate this to all the real journalists around the world, both in the press – the print media – and the broadcast media, who actually are in the line of fire with their pursuit of the truth,” Cranston said, according to the New York Times. “The media is not the enemy of the people. Demagoguery is the enemy of the people.”
The 63-year-old actor did not directly call out Trump, but the president has often used the phrase “enemy of the people” when addressing his frustrations with the news media and how it has covered his presidency.
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