“Michael Moore Tells Canadian News He Planted Stories About His Extreme Wealth,” at Brietbart TV:
This week at the Toronto Film Festival, Canada’s Sun News caught up with progressive director Michael Moore and asked him about reports from earlier in the summer that his divorce settlement records showed Mr. Moore’s net worth estimated at $50 million and he and his wife owned nine properties which included a Manhattan condo that once was three apartments.
The director of the documentary critical of capitalism, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” deflected those question by claiming that he has been planting false news stories of his exaggerated wealth with his writers for years.
Video at link. Shades of the old Saturday Night Live sketch where Dan Aykroyd played Nixon and Buck Henry played John Dean:
David Eisenhower: Uh.. you were telling us how they twisted the meaning of what you said.
Richard Nixon: That’s right, uh.. uh, yeah, yeah.. [ chuckles ] You see.. my administration.. had the greatest sense of humor that this country has ever seen. You see.. most of the time, we were.. making “party” tapes. Me, and Haldeman, and Ehrlichman, and Dean could joke for weeks on end. We actually.. played to the microphone..
[ slow dissolve to a flashback scene of Nixon’s March 21st meeting with John Dean in the Oval Office ]
Richard Nixon V/O: ..We’d do anything to crack wach other up! And I remember, that day, Dean was on a roll, so I just followed his lead, and.. “played along” with the “joke”..
John Dean: [ standing over Nixon’s desk; a microphone is unseen underneath a small lamp on the desk ] ..Plus.. there’s a real problem.. in raising money.
[ Dean holds up handwritten sign: “Let’s Pretend There’s A Cover Up”; Nixon laughs, removes lampshade to reveal hidden microphone ]
John Dean: Uh.. Mitchell.. Mitchell has been working on raising some money.. feeling he’s got, you know.. he’s one of the ones with the most.. to lose
President Richard Nixon: [ covers microphone with hand, tries not to laugh ] Martha!
John Dean: ..but.. there is no denying the fact that the White House – Ehrlichman, Haldeman.. [ points to himself ] ..Dean – are all involved in some of the.. early.. money decisions.
President Richard Nixon: [ stands slightly to speak directly into the microphone ] How much money do they need?
John Dean: Well.. I would say these people are going to cost, uh.. uh.. [ looks to Nixon for help, who sticks both thumbs in the air to silently cue Dean to pick a high number ] ..a million dollars! Over the next.. two years.
[ Nixon and Dean pound on the desk to subdue their laughter ]
President Richard Nixon: We could get that.
John Dean: [ stifling laughter ] Uh-huh.
[ Nixon scribbles on a pad, then, laughing silently, holds it up to reveal the message: “Let’s Talk In Incomplete Sentences” ]
President Richard Nixon: Uh.. uh.. You, uh.. on the money.. if you, uh.. need the money, I mean, uh.. you could get the money. Let’s say, uh..
John Dean: Well, I think if we’re going to, uh..
President Richard Nixon: What I meant is, uh.. you could get, uh.. you could get a million dollars. And you could get it in cash.
[ Dean stick two pencils up his nose, resembling a walrus; Nixon practically falls out of his chair laughing at the sight ]
President Richard Nixon: I, uh.. I know where it could be gotten!
John Dean: Uh, huh! [ puts lampshade on his head and dances in a circle, to Nixon’s amusement ]
President Richard Nixon: I mean it’s not easy.. but it could be done!
[ Dean drops his pants and continues to dance with lampshade on his head; Nixon falls to the floor laughing, as Dean pounds on the desk in a fit of laughter ]
[ slow dissolve back to the Nixon household, present day ]
Richard Nixon: You see, David? Things aren’t always as they seem.
David Eisenhower: Well, I.. guess people just hear what they want to hear.
Julie Eisenhower: I’ll say. You know, Dad’s only crime was having too good a sense of humor.
Richard Nixon: You’re damn right, Kitten!
With Robert Redford about to shoot a film about Dan Rather’s slow transformation into the second coming of Richard Nixon, it’s not all that surprising that Michael Moore would want to get in on the action as well.
Oh and by the way, if Moore is claiming he lied about his wealth, why should anyone believe what’s in his “documentaries,” as Pauline Kael noted in her perceptive New Yorker review of Roger & Me?
Update: On the other hand, perhaps Moore was simply trying to Voxsplain his wealth to the Sun News reporter:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member