Filmmaker Ken Burns devoted much of his commencement address Sunday at Stanford University to a blistering takedown of Donald Trump, who he called a “charlatan” and an “insult to our history.”

"This is not a liberal or conservative issue, a red state–blue state divide," Burns said. "This is an American issue."

"Many honorable people, including the last two Republican presidents, members of the party of Abraham Lincoln, have declined to support him," he continued. "And I implore those 'Vichy Republicans' who have endorsed him to please, please reconsider. We must remain committed to the kindness and community that are the hallmarks of civilization and reject the troubling, unfiltered Tourette’s of his tribalism."

Burns, who is known for making documentaries on U.S. history including “The Civil War,” “The Roosevelts” and “Prohibition,” accused Trump of pulling a “political Ponzi scheme” on American voters. 

“I feel genuine sorrow for the understandably scared and—they feel—powerless people who have flocked to his campaign in the mistaken belief that—as often happens on TV—a wand can be waved and every complicated problem can be solved with the simplest of solutions. They can’t,” said Burns. ...