Jane Fonda calls pandemic 'God's gift to the left,' urges Democrats to 'use it'

President Obama's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, once said, "You don't ever want a crisis to go to waste. It's an opportunity to do things you would otherwise avoid."

That's what Jane Fonda is urging with COVID-19.

The actress, who became known as "Hanoi Jane" for her opposition to the Vietnam War, called the coronavirus "God's gift to the left" because, she claims, it is clear evidence that President Trump is not helping the working class in America.

"We are people who can help determine which way humanity goes," Fonda said in a video published online. "What a great gift, what a tremendous opportunity, we're just so lucky, we just have to use it with every ounce of intelligence and courage and wherewithal we have."

"I just think COVID is God's gift to the left," Fonda said. "That's a terrible thing to say. I think it was a very difficult thing to send down to us, but it has ripped the Band-Aid off who [Trump] is and what he stands for and what is being done to average people and working people in this country."

"We can see it now," she went on, "people who couldn't see it before, you know, they see it now, and we have a chance to harness that anger."

Fonda is remembered for her 1972 trip to North Vietnam, when she was photographed posing on an anti-aircraft gun that had been used to shoot down American pilots.