Liberal activist and Hollywood director Rob Reiner slammed President Donald Trump on Monday and suggested that Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election was the "greatest attack" on American democracy since Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
"We've had the greatest attack of this democracy since 1941, and we have to understand that," Reiner said on MSNBC.
Reiner also suggested that American society might collapse given the pressure Russia placed on democratic institutions in the country.
Japan drew the United States into World War II after attacking its naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, killing more than 2,000 Americans soldiers. Reiner did not mention the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 Americans.
"Great societies last 250, maybe 300 years. Well, we're at that cusp right now. The question is, will our institutions withstand this attack that we've had from a hostile, foreign power?" Reiner asked in an apparent reference to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
He added that Trump wrongly attacked the press by using the term "fake news."
The media, Reiner argued, should not "normalize" Trump's presidency through its reporting. He appeared to warn MSNBC host Chris Jansing that although her job entailed reporting on Trump's presidency, she and others in the media shouldn't treat recent events as "normal."
Reiner criticized elected politicians for not decrying the attacks on American democracy, asking why Republican leaders, in particular, did not take a stand.
"Where are our Republican leaders, elected leaders, standing up and saying 'we've been attacked here, our democracy is being compromised?'" Reiner asked.
Reiner has spoken out strongly against Trump since the president's emergence on the political stage. Last year, he said Trump's candidacy for president had "unearthed" racists in America.