Hollywood’s biggest night – where protests against the president are forecast – clashes with White House Governors Ball, so he won’t be watching on TV. And his voters are poised to switch off too

As Hollywood gears up for the Oscars on Sunday night, where many film-makers are expected to make their feelings known about the current state of American politics, it has emerged that President Trump is not likely to watch the ceremony.

Responding to a question during a press conference about, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that Trump will be otherwise occupied, hosting a function in Washington DC.

Spicer said: “Hollywood is known for being rather far to the left in its opinions. I have to be honest with you. I think the president will be hosting the Governors Ball that night. Mrs Trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event, and the first lady has put a lot of time into this event that’s going to occur welcoming our governors to the capital. I feel like that is where the president and first lady are going to be focused on Sunday night and so we will go from there.”

Although it is similarly named, Spicer was not referring to the official Oscars afterparty hosted by the Academy’s governor Jeffrey Kurland, but an event staged for US state leaders at the White House during the National Governors Association Winter Meeting.

In recent years Trump has attacked the Oscar ceremony on Twitter, calling it “bullshit” and “terrible”, and responded dismissively within hours of Meryl Streep’s criticism of him at the Golden Globes award ceremony in January.

The White House’s disdain for any potential political speechmaking at the Oscars is reflected in a poll carried out by the National Research Group for the Hollywood Reporter, which concluded that 66% of Trump voters have turned off the show after a winner made a political statement, compared to 19% of Clinton voters.

The survey asked 800 people their views on a range of issues, split equally between the two camps. On the general idea of political speeches in awards shows, 69% of Trump voters said they “disliked” them, while 32% of Clinton said they “liked” them. However, 66% of Trump voters said they planned to watch the show (against 79% of Clinton). La La Land was the top pick for best picture among Trump voters (26%), while Hidden Figures came out best among Clinton’s (27%). However, less comfortingly, the same poll established that 60% – across both political camps – couldn’t name a single one of the best picture nominees unprompted.