Actress Meryl Streep delivered an emotional speech railing against President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE — though never mentioning him by name — while accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 74th annual Golden Globes on Sunday.

The iconic actress referred to the time Trump imitated a disabled New York Times reporter on the campaign trail and said that particular, real-life performance broke her heart.

“But there was one performance this year that stunned me. It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good — there was nothing good about it — but it was effective and did its job," Streep said of Trump's imitation of reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a congenital condition affecting the joints. "It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth.”

“It was that moment, when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter — someone he out-ranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back," she continued. "It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie; it was in real life.”

“This instinct to humiliate when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform — by someone powerful — it filters down into everybody’s life because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose,” Streep said.

She then called on the media to use its agency to hold powerful people accountable.

"We need the principled press to hold power to account, to call them on the carpet for every outrage," Streep said. "That’s why our founders enshrined the press and its freedoms in our Constitution. So I only ask the famously well-heeled Hollywood foreign press and all of us in our community to join us in supporting the Committee to Protect Journalists, and we’re going to need us going forward and they’ll need us to safeguard the truth."

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Streep echoed actor Hugh Laurie, who earlier in the night joked there would be no more Golden Globes if Trump has his way.

“You and all of us in this room belong to the most vilified segments of society right now. Think about it: Hollywood, foreigners and the press,” Streep said.

She proceeded to mention several actors in the room who were born outside the United States.

“Hollywood is crawling with foreigners and if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and the mixed martial arts — which are not the arts,” Streep said.

She grew emotional when she honored "Star Wars" actress Carrie Fisher, who died last month, in the last moments of her speech.

"As my friend, the dear departed Princess Leia said to me once: Take your broken heart, make it into art."

Streep’s speech ended with a standing ovation — the first of the night, according to reports on Twitter.

During Trump’s presidential campaign, Streep dressed up like the GOP nominee during a Shakespeare in the Park performance, complete with orange foundation and floppy hair. Streep endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Virginia Democrat blasts Trump's 'appalling' remark about COVID-19 deaths in 'blue states' The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE during the 2016 presidential election.

Judy Kurtz contributed.