‘Chernobyl’ producer spars with conservative radio host Bongino over socialism

The executive producer behind HBO’s hit show “Chernobyl” sparred with conservative radio host and Fox News contributor Dan Bongino on Twitter this week over socialism and President Trump.

Bongino first criticized bestselling author and frequent Trump critic Stephen King, who said the docuseries about the 1986 nuclear disaster in Soviet Ukraine made him think about Trump.{mosads}

“It’s impossible to watch HBO’s CHERNOBYL without thinking of Donald Trump; like those in charge of the doomed Russian reactor, he’s a man of mediocre intelligence in charge of great power–economic, global–that he does not understand,” King wrote on Thursday.

Bongino, a former host on NRATV, mocked King for continuing to “publicly humiliate” himself on Twitter.

“Chernobyl was a failure of socialism (where the govt controls the means of production), the exact opposite of the Trump deregulation and tax cut agenda,” Bongino wrote.

Why do Hollywood elitists continue to publicly humiliate themselves on twitter? Chernobyl was a failure of socialism (where the govt controls the means of production), the exact opposite of the Trump deregulation and tax cut agenda. https://t.co/F1vXtlaVF1

— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) May 30, 2019

Craig Mazin, the screenwriter who began researching for the series in 2015, criticized Bongino’s defense of the president.

“Chernobyl was a failure of humans whose loyalty to (or fear of) a broken governing party overruled their sense of decency and rationality,” Mazin wrote. “You’re the old man with the cane. You just worship a different man’s portrait.”

Chernobyl was a failure of humans whose loyalty to (or fear of) a broken governing party overruled their sense of decency and rationality.

You’re the old man with the cane. You just worship a different man’s portrait. https://t.co/WSDeOyzMkB

— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) May 31, 2019

Bongino responded by telling Mazin to “crack a textbook.”

“I’m horrified that I promoted your work given how much of an ignoramus you appear to be,” the conservative commentator said. “Every wanna-be tyrant blames the humans, not the system. What a joke.”

Please crack a textbook before you embarrass yourself again. People can see this, it’s twitter, not email. I’m horrified that I promoted your work given how much of an ignoramus you appear to be. Every wanna-be tyrant blames the humans, not the system. What a joke.

— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) May 31, 2019

“Chernobyl” still has two episode left before the miniseries ends on June 7, but the show quickly surpassed “Breaking Bad” and “Game of Thrones” to become IMDb’s top-rated show this week.

It follows the explosion of a nuclear reactor near Pripyat, the attempted cover-up by the Soviet Union and the aftermath of nuclear radiation that spread throughout the region.

Mazin, who roomed with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during his freshman year at Princeton, made a name for himself writing comedies, including the last two movies in “The Hangover” franchise.

He told The Los Angeles Times that he began writing the show before the 2016 U.S. presidential election but said the story is more important now in the Trump era. 

“We are now living in a global war on the truth,” Mazin said. “The debasement of the truth is the scariest thing of all. It’s scarier than the lies. We look at this president who lies, outrageous lies, not little ones but outstandingly absurd lies. The truth isn’t even in the conversation. It’s just forgotten or obscured to the point where we can’t see it. That’s what Chernobyl is about.”