Marking West Wing Anniversary, Aaron Sorkin Offers Donald Trump Antidote: “We Need To Make Better Voters”

Aaron Sorkin never uttered the name of the current U.S. president, and it took a half-hour into a conversation with him about The West Wing for the reality of Donald Trumps administration to intrude on the conversation.

But the creator of the classic NBC drama suggested there is one antidote to the times of Trump: “We need to make better voters. Otherwise, its bound to descend into the tribalism that we have.”

Sorkin spoke after a 20th anniversary screening at PaleyFest New York of “Two Cathedrals,” the closing episode of the shows second season. Asked how much he reflected on the way the show plays a generation later, he initially demurred, saying it was always intended as “wish fulfillment.” But he acknowledged being nostalgic for “sanity” in “unnerving times, particularly over the past week.”

Reflecting on the plot of “Two Cathedrals,” he said it felt “quaint” to be depicting storylines like President Bartletts disclosure of his multiple sclerosis condition and his appointing of a special counsel that would investigate him.

Challenged during the audience Q&A portion about his indictment of the voters, rather than political leaders and candidates, he said “better voters get us better candidates. I think in a democracy, how can it not ultimately be the responsibility of the voters? Look, were right to point to all the people were pointing to in Washington and say, Oh my God, this is so un-American! … But when are voters going to bear some responsibility?”

Depictions of politics in popular culture tend to follow two distinct lines, he maintained. “Our leaders are depicted as either Machiavellian or dolts,” Sorkin said. While he said he is a “big, big fan” of both House of Cards and Veep, those two poles “are really my lane.” Instead, he set out during the heart of Bill Clintons second term to deliver a TV show taking the lives and jobs of White House staffers as seriously Read More – Source