By now, it’s safe to assume the world has grown tiresome of celebrities backdooring their way into politics with no apparent qualifications, proven track records as a public servant, or any public service, for that matter. But whether we like it or not, the floodgates are well and truly open in this post-Reagan / post-Schwarzenegger / post-Trumpian era – one that may see beloved thespian Matthew McConaughey make a run to become Texas Governor.
The actor of Dazed & Confused, Dallas Buyers Club, and True Detective fame had previously alluded to such ambitions on The Hugh Hewitt Show, noting how it “wouldn’t be up to [him]… it would be up to the people more than it would be up to [him].”
“Look, politics seems to be a broken business to me right now,” explained the Lone Star state native.
“And when politics redefines its purpose, I could be a hell of a lot more interested.”
Since then, however, McConaughey has navigated away from spit-ballin’ territory to a much firmer personal directive. Appearing on a recent episode of Crime Stoppers Houston’s The Balanced Voice podcast, it was revealed the Oscar winner is now “seriously considering” a run at state office.
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“I’m looking into now again, what is my leadership role? Because I do think I have some things to teach and share, and what is my role? What’s my category in my next chapter of life that I’m going into?”
If this gubernatorial campaign does indeed come into fruition, 51-year-old Matthew McConaughey will be challenging 63-year-old current Texas Governor Greg Abbott of the Republican Party, who is up for re-election next year. At the time of this writing, Governor Abbot retains a 48% approval rating.
McConaughey’s political affiliation has been something of a mystery for the longest time; mostly due to the fact it has never been publicly disclosed whether he aligns with the Republican or Democratic party, but also due to his predominantly centrist stance when it comes to several key issues:
- On the “illiberal left”
“There are a lot [of people] on that illiberal left that absolutely condescend, patronise, and are arrogant towards the other 50%.”
“You need liberals… what I don’t think we need is the illiberals and what I don’t think that some liberals see is that they’re often being cannibalised by the illiberals.”
“There are extremes on both sides that I think are unfair that I don’t think are the right place to be. The extreme left and the extreme right completely [delegitimise] the other side or they exaggerate that side’s stance into an irrational state and that’s not fair when either side does that.” - On police reform
“It’s almost like it should have been renamed because “defund” does not sound anything like there’s been money reallocated to different areas of handling some police exercise.”
“The community and the police need to get back together, and the community needs to say, “Here’s what’s unfair. Here’s how I feel it’s unfair as a black man or a person of colour or whatever the situation. Here’s my problem with my relationship with you as cops.””
- On gun control
“I’ve got a lot of friends who are gun owners. I’ve got a lot of friends who are NRA (National Rifle Association). I grew up hunting. We had responsible gun ownership, but I was taught the right way to respect that tool.”
“I also fear that [the March For Our Lives] campaign — they have to watch that they don’t get hijacked. Meaning, a lot of the crowd was for no guns at all. That was not the march for life. March For Our Lives was for rightful, just, responsible gun ownership – but against assault rifles, against unlimited magazines. and for following up on the regulations.”
“I was for what they were marching for, and I wanted to speak to my hometown on the capital of my state Texas’ steps. And also talk to the many men and women who I grew up with, I know that had the guns, that owned the guns.” - On bipartisanship
“The two sides got to talk, “Hey, where can we reach across the aisle here? Find a compromise for the betterment of all of us?””
