Donald Trump calls Meryl Streep a 'Hillary flunky' after her scathing Golden Globe speech

‘One of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn’t know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes,’ says President-elect

Donald Trump has launched into a Twitter tirade against Meryl Streep after the actress rebuked him at the Golden Globes.

During her acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award, Streep attacked the President-elect for mocking a disabled reporter. She said it was the one performance this year which shocked her and argued it legitimised bullying and gave “permission” for others to do the same.

This is a reference to when Mr Trump imitated the New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski during a rally in November 2015.

Mr Trump has now hit back at Streep on Twitter, saying she is one of the most “over-rated actresses in Hollywood” and is a “Hillary flunky who lost big”.

“Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn't know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes,” he wrote on Monday.

“She is a Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never ‘mocked’ a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him ‘groveling’ when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!”

Back in November 2015, the Republican billionaire was widely condemned for mocking Mr Kovaleski – who had disputed Mr Trump’s claim he witnessed “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating on the day of the 9/11 attacks.

Mr Trump jerked his arms in a manner which poked fun at the reporter’s condition. Mr Kovaleski has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition affecting how his joints move.

In Hollywood’s first awards show of the year, Streep condemned Mr Trump’s decision to mock a disabled reporter, saying it made such behaviour appear acceptable and filtered down into the attitudes of wider society.

“There was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart,” she told a visibly shocked audience as she accepted the Cecil B DeMille award. “Not because it was good, there was nothing good about it, but it was effective and it did its job.

“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie, it was real life.”

Rather than turning straight to Twitter to hit back at Streep, Mr Trump initially responded by dismissing the actress as a “Hillary lover” in a brief interview with the New York Times. He said he was “not surprised” by “liberal movie people” attacking his character at the awards show and also denied mocking the disabled reporter.

In August, a poll by Bloomberg which asked likely voters which of Mr Trump’s controversies most bothered them found his impression of the disabled journalist ranked top. Bill Clinton drew attention to it in his convention speech, saying his wife “never made fun of people with disabilities. She tried to empower them based on their ability.”