Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington recently spoke out about American politics and how people need to be aware of the ongoing manipulative tactics used by both parties. 

In an interview with The Sunday Times, editor Jonathan Dean quoted a line from “Gladiator II,” the upcoming Ridley Scott sequel that Washington stars in: “Empires fall, so do emperors.” Dean noted that the phrase felt relevant to the current political landscape after the election. “You know, it’s so easy to stand outside America and say this and that,” Washington said in response. “Turn around, you know? Pick a country. Any one.”

Washington continued, “It’s all politics. All promises unkept. And now with the information age the way it is — if anything — left, right, whatever had better learn how to use those tools to manipulate the people. There was a great line in the first movie I did, [1981’s] ‘Carbon Copy’: ‘Power to the people? Yeah, they had it once — it was called the Stone Age.’”

He added, “We’re all slaves to information now. We really are. We’re all slaves. So whatever you feel about the leaders, like this guy’s crazy or the other one is sane, you’d better realize you’re being manipulated by both sides. Period.” Washington ended the thought by saying, “Yeah. So go to the movies.”

Elsewhere in his interview with The Sunday Times, Washington reflected on his career and the failures and successes that came with it.

“After [1992’s] ‘Malcolm X’ I made some real clunkers. Look them up — I won’t say their names,” Washington said. “They are all in the 1990s. But I was earning. I had responsibilities.”

He also reflected on his acting career in the 2000s, when he worked films like 2000’s “The Hurricane” and 2001’s “Training Day” — the latter of which earned him his second Academy Award.

“So, 2000 …” he pondered. “Well, in life, you learn, earn and then you return — as in give back. So if your life is 90 years long, up until 30 you learn and from 30 to 60 you earn. So in that era I was earning. With a great agent, my career built into making money and so the earning kicked in and then life also kicked in, with bills, four kids and a house.”

President Biden is in Latin America for a farewell tour to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru and the G-20 summit in Brazil.

The Biden administration can do little about the future agenda of these institutions, Ariel González Levaggi, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.

Levaggi said much of what Biden will highlight at these summits will not be on the table for the incoming Trump administration. Because of the change of power, the G-20 will be “less politically relevant,” limiting Biden’s ability to make any commitments.

The president’s first stop is in Lima, Peru, where he will meet world leaders at the APEC summit, placing a heavy focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Biden’s next stop on Sunday will be in Brazil’s capital, Rio de Janeiro, where he will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the margins of the G-20 summit.

BIDEN, XI MEETING WILL BE FORUM FOR ‘INTENSE DIPLOMACY’ AMID TENSIONS BETWEEN US, CHINA: OFFICIALS

Biden is also expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit on Saturday as China has expanded its economic footprint in Latin America, particularly in APEC host Peru. Xi watched along with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the opening of the new Peruvian megaport of Chancay, a project financed by China to the tune of over $1 billion. The megaport’s symbolism highlights China’s growing investment and influence in Latin America.

China has become South America’s top trading partner, and trade between China and Latin America grew significantly between 2000 and 2020, increasing from $12 billion to $315 billion. Two-way trade is expected to double by 2035, reaching more than $700 billion, according to figures from the World Economic Forum.

President Biden waves as he walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15, 2023. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

Biden’s visits to APEC and the G-20, which will likely be his last appearances on the international stage in his 50-year political career, come in the shadow of former President Trump’s election victory and his return to the White House. The summits will focus on trade, security and global alliances, but there are unlikely to be any deliverables at the conclusion of each.

“Biden is playing a weak hand that just got weaker,” Mark Montgomery, retired Rear Admiral and Senior Fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

XI JINPING WARNS TRUMP US WOULD ‘LOSE FROM CONFRONTATION’ WITH CHINA AS RENEWED TRADE WAR LOOMS

“Biden has to contend with both Trump’s victory but also with Chinese President Xi’s ascendency in Latin America, especially given China’s predominant role as an economic partner of choice,” Montgomery added.

As Trump prepares for his second term, some leaders will have to contend with a more aggressive U.S. posture, including in the economic realm and international trade.

“China and the EU should expect higher U.S. tariffs in 2025,” Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital. He also said the tariffs could provide leverage for Trump in his second term.

GERMANY BRACES UNDER COLLAPSING GOVERNMENT AND LOOMING TRUMP TRADE WAR

China and other members of the G-20 will likely brace for a reboot of Trump’s “America First” policy, placing a heavy emphasis on higher tariffs. Trump famously launched a trade war with China in his first term in 2018, raising tariffs up to 25% on steel, aluminum and other Chinese-made products. China responded with reciprocal tariffs against the U.S. Trump promised to raise tariffs up to 60% on Chinese imports while running for president, although it’s unclear if he would actually go that high.

Leaders from the U.S., China, Brazil and elsewhere in Asia and the Americas are gathering at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru. (Manuel Orbegozo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Traditional U.S. allies might not be exempt, either, from a second Trump administration tariff policy, where some nations could see up to a 20% increase in tariffs.

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Slovakia’s capital on the 35th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution that brought an end to decades of communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia to oppose the policies of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The protest united the opposition, including the liberal Progressive Slovakia, pro-business Freedom and Solidarity and the conservative Christian Democrats who all say Fico is a threat to democracy.

‘The government takes our freedom and democracy,’ a banner in the crowd read.

“Slovakia is and will be part of the Western civilization,” a conservative political veteran František Mikloško, who was one of the Slovak leaders in 1989, told the crowd in downtown Bratislava.

“We don’t want anyone to move us toward Moscow.”

Freedom and Solidarity leader Branislav Gröhling said Fico is leading the country “to an authoritarian regime like in Russia and communist China.”

Michal Šimečka, the head of Progressive Slovakia, which is currently the most popular party in the country, said the opposition will do what it takes to protect freedom and democracy.

“Slovakia is and will be a nation of free people. And free people won’t be silent,” he said.

Fico and his leftist Smer (Direction) party won last year’s parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-America platform.

His government has pushed through a plan to overhaul public broadcasting, a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio.

That, along with a move to amend a penal code and eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, has led opponents to worry that he would lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path, following the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Fico’s views on the war in Ukraine and other issues differ sharply from the European mainstream.

Fico ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, opposes EU sanctions on Russia, wants to block Ukraine from joining NATO and plans a trip to Russia.

The fall of Communism

The Velvet Revolution, so called because of its non-violent nature, took place from 17 November to 28 November 1989 and was one of several anti-Communism movements in eastern Europe at the end of the eighties.

Demonstrations and strikes against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czeschoslovakia included people from across the civilian spectrum, from students and older dissidents.

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The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in the country, the dismantling of the centrally-planned economy and the transition to a parliamentary democracy.

Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.