What did ‘Reacher’ star Alan Ritchson say that upset his right-wing fans?

Reacher may be Alan Ritchson‘s primary claim to fame, but the 41-year-old actor has had quite a sleeping giant of a career up until now, with such credits as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, and DC’s live-action Titans series making him no stranger to popular media; an acquaintanceship that’s on course to become much more intimate as Hollywood continues to keep his eye on him.

But as of this month, Ritchson has happened upon a brand new identifier as a widely popular devout Christian who isn’t afraid to stand up for what Jesus stood up for, even if that means some of his fans end up forcing themselves to choose between him or a certain ex-president to keep in their hearts.

And here’s the lowdown on that.

What did Alan Ritchson say?

In a recent, lengthy interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which saw the Reacher star become disarmingly forthright about his experiences and humanity, Ritchson quite bluntly called Donald Trump “a rapist and a con man,” and would go on to ponder why many Christians — a faith founded solely on the belief of love — seem to have taken such a severe liking to him (he is, of course, not referring to all Christians).

The entire quote is as follows:

Trump is a rapist and a con man, and yet the entire Christian church seems to be treating him like he’s their poster child and it’s unreal. I don’t understand it.

Needless to say, his comments didn’t sit well with those who love Trump in a similar measure that they love Reacher, some of whom have taken to Twitter to announce their boycotting of the show, which is currently filming its third season as of December 2023.

It’s hard to explain why anyone other than Trump and his family might take personal offense to Ritchson’s comments; Ritchson simply made an observation and further stated that he was confused about why some people love Trump the way they do. He’s showing no sides of siding with any institution or idea other than the ones that Jesus preached, and those who are slamming Ritchson for this might be surprised if they learned what Jesus’ schtick was.

Reacher is available to stream on Prime Video.