Michael Moore stated his shallow opinion of military snipers on Sunday, giving the impression that he found the Oscar-nominated film "American Sniper" unworthy of the praise it has received so far.
He shared his thoughts on Twitter.
My uncle killed by sniper in WW2. We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren't heroes. And invaders r worse
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 18, 2015
The liberal supporter continued, "But if you're on the roof of your home defending it from invaders who've come 7K miles, you are not a sniper, u are brave, u are a neighbor."
In the film directed by Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper stars as Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, who is credited as the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. During his four tours in Iraq, he accumulated 160 confirmed kills out of a probable 255 kills.
Moore clarified his remarks in a longer Facebook post and a couple more tweets. He argued that he never mentioned "American Sniper" in his tweets and gave a positive review for the film, including Cooper's work. Despite his distaste for the soldiers calling the Iraqis, "savages," he also applauded the film's anti-war sentiment.
He also further explains his family's history with snipers, and why he has such ill feelings towards the trained shooters.
"Lots of talk about snipers this weekend (the holiday weekend of a great man, killed by a sniper), so I thought I'd weigh in with what I was raised to believe about snipers," Moore wrote, referring to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
He then explained how his father and uncle both served in World War II. "My dad always said, 'Snipers are cowards. They don't believe in a fair fight. Like someone coming up from behind you and coldcocking you. Just isn't right. It's cowardly to shoot a person in the back. Only a coward will shoot someone who can't shoot back.'"
Earlier in the weekend, the documentary filmmaker advised his 1.79 million Twitter followers to see the Dr. King biopic "Selma."
"Everybody else - try to see SELMA this weekend! Simply because it is a piece of brilliant filmmaking, the likes of which are so rare..." Moore tweeted.
"American Sniper" has earned an impressive $90.2 million in the first three days of the holiday weekend with an estimated $105 million haul through Monday. The movie bypasses the record set by James Cameron's "Avatar" in 2010 for highest-grossing opening weekend for a January release, according to USA Today.
