Michael Moore’s new documentary is Fahrenheit 11/9, which is obviously about Donald Trump’s election and presidency. The documentary premieres at the Toronto Film Festival today – it’s the big opening night premiere. Moore got a lot of credit for correctly predicting the way Trump would “win” the presidency – by appealing to white voters in the Rust Belt, and by winning states like Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. So what are his predictions for the midterms and 2020? The thing is, Moore shouldn’t be seen as an oracle – some of his predictions are designed as warnings, to rile up people and get them motivated. So he’s being careful. Some highlights from Moore’s interview with The Hollywood Reporter:

We created Trump: “Trump is our Frankenstein and we are Dr. Frankenstein. We have helped to create a situation that has allowed us to end up with Trump. The dumbing down of our society through the media, the lack of education through poor schools, allows for a dumbed-down electorate, and for him to be able to actually get 63 million votes.”

Predictions for the midterms: Moore’s not prepared to say a Democratic takeback of the House, let alone the Senate, is a fait accompli, but he predicts, “There’s going to be a tsunami of voters — especially women, young people and people of color. If there are candidates worth voting for, there will be a shellacking the likes of which the Republicans have never seen.”

The 2020 presidential election: “As things stand right now, everybody should operate as if it’s a two-term Trump,” but if the Dems are to unseat him, “we need beloved figures running. Say what you want about Trump, but tens of millions watched his show. We need Tom Hanks, Oprah, Michelle Obama. Who would not vote for Michelle Obama?”

His prediction that Trump would do well in the Rust Belt: “I just felt, ‘What is wrong with me that I could not communicate to people that he was going to win these three or four states and that we had to get out en masse?’ It really bothered me.”

Trump is a modern fascist: Fahrenheit 11/9 is at its most provocative when it veers away from Trump’s ascension to recount Adolf Hitler’s rise, with an emphasis on how the media in the 1930s, from The New York Times to the Jewish press, normalized the Fuhrer. Moore insists he isn’t making a direct comparison between Trump and Hitler but rather making “a serious point about fascism,” he explains. “It comes from a book, Friendly Fascism, by a philosopher named Bertram Gross. He talks about how the fascism of the 21st century would not be like the fascism of the 20th century. It would not come with concentration camps and swastikas, but with a TV show and a smiley face. The fascists of the 21st century will convince the people to go against their own interests by using television and branding. I don’t think we should be afraid to call this out for what it is.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Wow, I 100% agree with him. I think the midterms will hopefully be a huge wakeup call for the GOP, but we have to remember to #StayWoke. I also think it’s way too soon to make any 2020 predictions since 2020 will hinge on what happens in the midterms, and whether Democrats get both the House and Senate and begin impeachment proceedings. As for Moore’s note about modern fascism… he’s absolutely right. I’ve been calling Trump a fascist this whole time, because that’s what he is. It’s not hyperbolic. It’s really f–king happening.

Photos courtesy of WENN.