McConaughey Joins Govs Cox and Polis to Urge More Civility In Politics, Warns Against ‘Entertainment’ Focused Leaders
Actor Matthew McConaughey joined Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) and Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) for their final “Disagree Better” event in Salt Lake City on Friday and urged America’s leaders to leave entertainment to the entertainers.
Cox and Polis are the leaders of the National Governors Association and launched an initiative together to try and build more bipartisanship and dialogue in the country.
During their on-stage sit-down, McConaughey noted, “We’re all right now caught up in short-term, short-money wins. And so we come to the table and we argue and we call each other’s names. And America sees a lot of us when we do this. This is entertainment. I’m in the entertainment business. Our leadership, ours leaders don’t need to be in the entertainment business.”
“You know, when you see me in a film that is basically fictional, I’ve read a script, I’m playing a character. That’s not the role that the leaders of our nation need to be playing,” continued the award-winning actor, concluding:
This doesn’t need to be, so the adults in the room, I’ve heard that term thrown around. Yes, the adults in the room. Don’t look, don’t allow, you know, we so much of America almost wants to watch the car wreck because we believe. Hey, but but our leadership and especially in government, do not need to look like an episode of Real Housewives. When we negotiate, when we negotiate, and when we when we resolve. And sometimes that’s what comes off. And as we know, that’s also what’s going to be promoted. That’s what’s going to get the most likes.
That’s what’s going to be watched the most. So how do we how do you negotiate the right way with decency? And how do you show that two sides can at least understand the other side and still walk away going? I hear we coming from I disagree on this point, but I hear where you’re coming from. How do we how do we market that? How do we sell that? How do we sell that? Is one healthy but also sexy and also fun and also the way forward.
Cox, who recently made clear he will not vote for Donald Trump in November, teamed up with Polis to host a series of events across the country aimed at tamping down the heated political rhetoric in the country.
“There is a growing majority of Americans that are tired of the toxic disagreement, the divisiveness of tearing each other down, that they’re actually looking for something better. Governors are uniquely positioned to take this on in that we we actually have to get stuff done. We work together. We learn from each other. We are the laboratories of democracy. And so we’re going to take messages like this and we’re going to do everything we can over the course of the next year to elevate this conversation,” Cox told CNN’s Dana Bash last summer as he launched the initiative.
“Our leadership and — especially in government — do not need to look like an episode of ‘The Real Housewives’ when we negotiate.”
— Actor Matthew McConaughey rails against U.S. leadership mirroring a “car wreck” for attention. pic.twitter.com/fmiecDf8q4
— The Recount (@therecount) July 12, 2024
Watch the clip above.
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