Zoe Saldana
Zoe SaldanaREUTERS

Despite making countless racist remarks, ingraining misogynistic attitudes, and being accused of sexual harassment by several women, perhaps the United States President-elect Donald Trump is the one who has been 'bullied'. At least, that's what Avatar actress Zoe Saldana thinks. 

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In an interview with AFP, Saldana said that she "believes insults flung at him during the race for the White House turned off much of middle America," though she is not a supporter of the Republican president-elect.

"We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies," the Guardian of the Galaxy actress further explained. "We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong... and that created empathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises."

Trump has been often denounced for being a bigot and making a meal out of matters. His alleged mocking of a disabled New York Times reporter during the presidential campaign is a case in point. 

Meanwhile, Saldana's argument comes close on the heels of Meryl Streep's anti-Trump speech at Golden Globes which received a huge support from Hollywood fraternity.

"I'm learning from (Trump's victory) with a lot of humility," the 38-year-old told AFP after discussing the depiction of racism in the Deep South in her 2016 film, Live by Night. "If we have people continue to be strong and educate ourselves and stand by equal rights and treat everyone with respect, we won't go back to those times."

Earlier this week, Lion actress Nicole Kidman also made a pro-Trump remark when she said it's time "to support whoever's the president" at the BBC's "Victoria Derbyshire" show, "because that's what the country's based on. However that happened, he's there, and let's go."

Saldana's upcoming film Live By Night, which had a limited release on December 25, opens in theatres across the U.S. over the weekend.