Olivia Wilde delivered a political missive on behalf of Harvey Weinstein. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

The notoriously feisty Hollywood movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, dropped a political bomb at the Toronto International Film Festival last night. Before the gala screening of his latest film, Butter, actress Olivia Wilde read a statement from Weinstein, in which he invites Republican presidential hopeful, Michele Bachmann, to co-host the premiere of Butter in Iowa in a few months.

"I know Michele will already be in Iowa for the caucus, so we can save some money on airfare and travel," said Weinstein. "I would of course be more than happy to fly in other leading members of the Tea Party movement to make an entire day of it. We could take some math classes in the morning to help balance the budget, brush up on the Constitution in the afternoon, play some ping-pong and then maybe some verbal ping-pong on gay rights and women's rights (especially the right to choose). But at night we can all go hand-in-hand to the premiere of Butter, a fun and important film where we'll share some popcorn and laughs. These are the kind of bipartisan efforts that makes America great."

Harvey Weinstein is notoriously feisty. (Joel Ryan/Associated Press)

Weinstein was in the audience but decided to have Wilde deliver his political missive. He said in the 20 years he's been attending the Toronto festival, this is the first time he's issued a statement at the opening of a film. The stunt came as a complete surprise to others in the Butter camp, including star Jennifer Garner.

But is Weinstein trying to score political points with his sarcastic invitation or is this a marketing ploy to generate buzz for a movie that's received mixed reviews from critics? In fact the initial press and industry screenings at TIFF were cancelled amid rumours Weinstein was having the film re-cut.

Butter is a satire about a butter-carving competition in a small, Midwest American town. Garner stars as the ambitious wife of the reigning champion who is threatened by a talented, black teenage rival. Her character has already been compared to Sarah Palin, but Weinstein must feel that bringing Bachmann, known for her verbal bloopers, into the equation adds a whole new spin.

There's been no comment from the Bachmann camp so far.