A video released Wednesday shows American filmmaker and Vietnam veteran Oliver Stone telling a Tokyo audience that President Obama is a “snake” for “institutionalizing” illegal National Security Agency spy programs, the Blaze reported.

“Obama is a snake,” he told reporters earlier this week at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, eliciting laughter and applause. “He’s a snake. And we have to turn on him.

“It’s never about terrorists, it always becomes about the way J. Edgar Hoover did it,” he said. “He brought all the weight of government to bear against protestors. He didn’t like protestors. He thought they were left-wing communists. He never could find the proof, but by the time the Vietnam War came around, as you know, 500,000 people were on the list, and they were being eavesdropped on. And where are we now? Same place.”

Mr. Stone also praised whistleblower Edward Snowden, calling him a personal hero.

“He sacrificed his well-being for the good of us all,” he said. “I think [Russian President Vladimir] Putin did the right thing, and I’m proud of him for doing it. We need more countries to stand up to the U.S.”

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.