Dan Aykroyd defends Leslie Jones: ‘There’s a lot of white racist hatred out there’

Leslie Jones, who stars in the new Ghostbusters movie, has been absolutely flooded with hate on social media, and Dan Aykroyd believes all that hatred is part of a bigger pattern.

She shared many of the insults on Twitter to raise awareness, and then responded with sadness and disappointment when Twitter failed to act.

—Leslie Jones calls for stronger Twitter guidelines after receiving racist tweets

Aykroyd told ET Canada of the people spewing hatred at Jones for her Ghostbusters stardom, “These people, they’re insignificant gnats, they’re losers, they have no lives of their own, they can probably barely pay for the wifi they’re using.”

“I would say you’re looking at obese white men between 50 and 60 who are active Klan members or member of the Aryan Nation and there are millions of them,” he continued.

—‘Ghostbusters’ reboot: First group photo shows Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones in uniform

“I’m afraid to say that that contingency will be voting for the republican ticket, pretty much that’s what the statistics are indicating, that there’s a lot of white racist hatred out there that’s going to channel into a support for the republican ticket, maybe in the false belief that these people share their views.”

—Leslie Jones responds to ‘Ghostbusters’ backlash on Twitter: ‘It’s not a race thang

“I don’t think that Trump and [vice presidential nominee Mike] Pence are as racist as the people who attacked Leslie Jones, I really don’t. Trump may be saying some things to go that way to get some votes but – well I don’t know.”

Using the hashtag #LoveForLeslieJ, Jones received an outpouring of love from other celebrities, including her ‘Ghostbusters’ director, Paul Feig.