Donald Trump hasn't exactly garnered the most positive reception lately, after his trip to the UK resulted in widespread protests. There were already thousands organising to protest him on his visit to England, but things were made worse when he criticised the British prime minister, Theresa May, and made various inflammatory remarks about immigration - so no one was really pleased about the visit.
When he arrived he was met by tens of thousands of protestors and a giant balloon, caricaturing the president as a baby in a diaper. The Trump baby balloon made its way over London, then Edinburgh, while other anti-Trump protests took place in Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff and Belfast.
According to polls taken before this visit, 77 per cent of Britons have an unfavourable view of the American president, and those views are shared by a number of US citizens, including actor Chris Evans.
It's not easy to sell a character dressed in the flag of the United States of America, with a capital 'A' on his forehead, literally throwing a symbol of the nation at his foes. For patriotic Americans, it can work, especially for kids - but the rest of the world... not so much.
It's something those writing Captain America comic books undoubtedly struggled with over the years, since there the various conflicts America is involved with in the present day are far less black and white than World War II. However, the recent Marvel movies managed to bring the character into the modern era successfully, with Chris Evans' portrayal of the ultra-moral Steve Rogers winning him plenty of fans.
You might expect someone in a role such as this to stay away from any sort of politics, but Evans has tended to post his own views on the current state of America with the forthrightness of his on-screen character. For many, he is Captain America, so he's not exactly someone you want to be called a "coward" by.
This was exactly what Trump was called by the actor in response to his recent meeting with Vladimir Putin, who US intelligence services have significant reason to believe meddled in the 2016 presidential election. Siding with the Russian leader's word on the matter, Trump dismissed the FBI's investigation into the matter and stated that "President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial":
“They said they think it’s Russia; I have President Putin, he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be. I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.”
Many critics believed that this was a weak and odd response given the national security issues that this involves, including Chris Evans, who said that the president should be "ashamed of himself":
"Shame on anyone who chooses to ignore Russia’s interference in our democracy for the sake of Trump’s political well-being. I’m at a complete loss.
"This moron, puppet, coward sided with Putin over our own intelligence agencies! On a world stage!!
"BASED ON NOTHING MORE THAN PUTIN’S WORD! Why?? Can ANYONE answer that?? What the hell is happening. Politics aside, this is 100% un-American."
It's one thing to be called un-American, but to be called so by Captain America? Ouch.
