Ellen DeGeneres has found a unique way to comment on President Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry from citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries into the U.S.
DeGeneres, in a segment airing on her show on Tuesday, notes that while she doesn’t get political, she is willing to discuss Trump screening her film “Finding Dory” at the White House a day after the ban was enacted.
The 2016 film stars DeGeneres as the memorable but forgetful Australian fish Dory on a mission to find her parents, who are in America.
“I don’t know what religion they are, but her dad sounds a little Jewish. It doesn’t matter,” DeGeneres jokes, alluding to the religious implications the ban has on Muslims.
In the movie, Dory and her friends arrive in America, where they find themselves stuck behind a large wall keeping Dory from finding her parents.
“They all have to get over the wall and you won’t believe it, but that wall has almost no effect in keeping them out,” DeGeneres says, making a not-so-subtle connection to the wall Trump has announced he plans to build between Mexico and America.
Dory goes on to cross the border, but is still separated from her family. Lucky for her, there are other animals around who are willing to help Dory and bring her into their world.
“Animals that don’t even need her. Animals that don’t have anything in common with her,” DeGeneres says. “They help her, even though they’re completely different colors. Because that’s what you do when you see someone in need — you help them.”
DeGeneres, without saying any of the buzzwords filling the political airwaves, manages to make her position on the ban and border wall clear. Dory can’t be held back by discrimination and giant walls.
She closes the segment with promises for similar commentary using her films; “Tune in next week when I explain women’s rights talking about the movie, ‘Mr. Wrong.’”
DeGeneres, despite her comment to the contrary, has used her show to send political messages in the past. Most recently, DeGeneres canceled a performance by gospel singer Kim Burrell after a video of her using homophobic rhetoric went viral.