Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois said he's "pretty disappointed" in Sony Pictures' decision to pull The Interview from theaters, adding that he wants to have his first big re-election fundraiser at a screening of the film.
"I would say one thing — I'm pretty disappointed in Sony Pictures decision to pull The Interview under pressure from North Korea," Kirk said Thursday on WBEZ radio. "I would say that I'm gonna be trying to hold the first big Kirk for Senate fundraiser at a screening of The Interview, so that everybody shows the North Koreans that you cannot edit what we want to see and do in the United States, under the First Amendment."
Kirk added he hoped the movie was "a smash hit," citing the movie Team America from the creators of South Park.
"It was a terrible lesson to terrorists, to give them what they wanted — that we should, as Americans under the First Amendment, we should never have to ask North Korea for permission as to what movie we can — just think of a previous really good movie, that was Team America: World Police, that was really funny about North Korea. And your birthright as an American citizen — you never have to ask the North Koreans for permission for what movie you can see. I hope that now all the media about this movie makes it a smash hit, and that we see many more movies like it, and teach the North Koreans a lesson about what Americans can and cannot do."