Spike Lee explains to Meghan McCain why he made one of his characters a Trump supporter
Meghan McCain and Spike Lee (ABC)

Filmmaker Spike Lee appeared Friday on "The View," and co-host Meghan McCain appeared surprised that in his new film he positively portrayed a supporter of President Donald Trump.


The director's latest feature, "Da 5 Bloods," follows black Vietnam War veterans as they travel back to Southeast Asia to find the body of their fallen squad leader, and the character portrayed by frequent Lee collaborator Delroy Lindo wears a "Make America Great Again" hat.

"I think it's an incredibly important film and I applaud you for making it," McCain said. "One thing I found fascinating is one of the veterans in the film is a Trump supporter, he wears a 'Make America Great Again' hat. Given how you have spoken against Trump, why did you decide to write the character that way?"

Lee explained that he made Lindo's character a Trump supporter to add a wrinkle of depth to his characters and the changes they went through over the decades since the war ended.

"Well, my co-writer and I, Ken Willmott, we wanted to put some tension between these four guys that have this bond," Lee explained. "As you know, when you are in a war in the battle, those guys with you, that's a bond that can never be broken. So in order to put some tension in the group, we thought of, what is the most extreme thing we can do? We thought, voted for 'Agent Orange.'"

"As you can tell, I don't say his name," he added.