Michael J. Fox says his plea for President Donald Trump’s administration to get more involved in the fight against Parkinson’s disease has thus far gone unacknowledged.
In a joint interview with Harrison Ford for Vanity Fair, Fox took a jab at the president for seemingly ignoring his invitation to support more Parkinson’s research.
“Our foundation directs more money towards Parkinson’s research than the federal government,” the “Back to the Future” actor said of his Michael J. Fox Foundation, which he founded in 2000. “It’s frustrating to know we’re putting everything we can into it, and it would be nice to have the government behind us, but it seems that they’re involved in other things that have less impact on people’s lives.”
When asked about working with Trump directly, he replied, “He’s busy with Greenland. More pressing concerns, I guess.”
Fox, 64, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, at the peak of his Hollywood fame. The disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system for which there is currently no cure. NFL legend Brett Favre and singer Linda Ronstadt are among those also diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
Tom Brenner via Getty Images
Though Fox didn’t go public with his diagnosis until about seven years later, the actor has become an outspoken advocate for those impacted by the disease. In the years since its establishment, the Michael J. Fox Foundation has reportedly raised more than $2.5 billion for Parkinson’s disease research.
Shortly before President Joe Biden left office last year, Fox was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S.’s highest civilian honor, in recognition of his achievements as an actor and efforts toward advancing Parkinson’s treatments.
Days before Trump was sworn into office for a second term last year, Fox published an essay in USA Today in which he urged elected officials across the U.S. to “do everything in their power to end Parkinson’s once and for all.”
“Parkinson’s is a solvable problem, but only if we act decisively and urgently. We have the knowledge, and we’ve built the tools,” he wrote. “We stand ready to partner with the government, this time with unprecedented potential to deliver enormous payoffs for American families.”
He went on to note: “Elected officials pledge to make our lives better. This is a chance to make good on that promise.”
A year later, Fox is discouraged, but remains optimistic that he’ll get a chance to meet with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a forthcoming visit to Washington, D.C.
“I’m going to Washington next month and hopefully talk to Kennedy and find out what the government’s game plan is on addressing brain research in general and taking a more serious approach to some of these things that are soluble,” he told Vanity Fair. “It’s just a weird disease. We always say genetics loads a gun and environment pulls the trigger. We’re trying to figure out what’s biological and what’s chemical.”
Fox returns to the small screen this week in the third season of the Apple TV series “Shrinking,” which also stars Ford and Jason Segel. He portrays Gerry, a character grappling with a Parkinson’s diagnosis, who seeks out Dr. Paul Rhoades (Ford), a therapist who also has the disease.
Given that Fox formally retired from acting in 2020, he clarified his “Shrinking” role is “not the beginning of any campaign to reestablish my career.”
“The depth of character, the quality of relationships, the language — it’s just a beautiful show. And I thought, just do that for its own sake,” he told the Los Angeles Times this week. “I don’t have an agenda. Don’t have to be coming back into acting or anything. It’ll be fun. And there’s Harrison Ford, which is insane.”
Be the first to comment