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Matthew McConaughey has reiterated that he is “seriously considering” running for governor of the state of Texas. He did so on Wednesday, March 10, while speaking on The Balanced Voice podcast of Crimestop Houston.
The actor has already flirted with the idea of running for governor of Texas, but later reiterated he was not thinking of announcing it immediately.
Despite the denial, after his brief but direct response last Wednesday, the possibility of his candidacy becoming a reality in the near future is gaining momentum again, unleashing all kinds of speculation and reactions.
Given the eclecticism of the opinions he has made public so far, it is unclear whether Matthew McConaughey will run for the Republican or Democratic nomination, or under an independent ticket. However, there are some clues that may help us intuit his political affinities.
Matthew McConaughey’s political ideas
In recent months, Matthew McConaughey has been featured on several podcasts such as those of Russell Brand, Joe Rogan, Mikhaila Peterson and Gary Vaynerchuk, among many others. From these interviews, we can deduce that Matthew McConaughey does not share the predominant leftist mentality in Hollywood, from which he has been the target of attacks for his Christian beliefs.
Also on The Balanced Voice podcast last Wednesday, McConaughey announced that he will be hosting a virtual event — to be streamed on his YouTube channel on Sunday, March 21 — called We Are Texas, in which several Texas stars will come together to help people affected by this winter’s storm.
According to McConaughey, this event will raise money for people in need “right now”, and he talks about donations from private companies and individuals, without any mention of grants or public money, which may be an indication of the ideals he will defend if he is elected governor.
In the podcast, he also talked about his book Greenlights, a collection of his thoughts in the diaries he has been writing since the age of 14. Matthew McConaughey explained that these “green lights” are related to values such as freedom, being a “good boy,” individual responsibility, being able to choose and make decisions, and making sacrifices in the present in order to enjoy in the future, all values of classical liberalism.
He went on to explain that some “yellow and red lights” are things like victimhood, and allowing yourself to consider yourself a victim shapes and defines you as a person. It seems clear that this sentiment that McConaughey claims to despise is the basis of the leftist narrative in recent times, and it would be surprising if he is unaware of how the Democratic Party has been exploiting this victimhood narrative.
This is all lucubrations and perhaps he will eventually run using the Democratic Party as a platform but, although it doesn’t have to mean anything, the truth is that some of his most important roles in film, have been playing characters that have shown traditionally Republican and libertarian values, such as Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club -film for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2014-, and Newton Knight in Free State of Jones.
We will have to wait and see if Matthew McConaughey finally runs for governor of Texas and, if he does, on what platform he will do so, but, in any case, from his multiple interventions in which he has explained his political views, it seems that Matthew McConaughey is committed to the values of individual liberty.
Ignacio Manuel García Medina, Business Management teacher. Artist and lecturer specialized in Popular Culture for various platforms. Presenter of the program "Pop Libertario" for the Juan de Mariana Institute. Lives in the Canary Islands, Spain // Ignacio M. García Medina es profesor de Gestión de Empresas. Es miembro del Instituto Juan de Mariana y conferenciante especializado en Cultura Popular e ideas de la Libertad.
Social Networks: @ignaciomgm