“Betrayal Comes Inherently” – Matthew McConaughey Is Apprehensive To Enter Politics Because He Won’t “Bend” On His Values & Beliefs

Not shutting the door on a gubernatorial run… but it won’t be anytime soon.

Matthew McConaughey is in the process of promoting his new book Poems & Prayers, which is McConaughey’s follow up to his uberly popular and best seller Greenlights, which he released in late 2020. While that book was more anecdotal, this new one is described to be a “faith-filled” collection of poetry and written prayer.

Some of the poems were written years ago, even some when he was a teenager, and the 55-year-old actor sat down with conservative commentator and podcast host Megyn Kelly on the Megyn Kelly Show yesterday to talk all about the new book and of course the movie industry, and what led him to leave Hollywood and raise his kids back in his home state of Texas.

Kelly admitted at the end of the interview that McConaughey’s team didn’t want her to get into politics during the interview, but she had to ask if he had any ambition to ever run for governor in Texas, which has been thrown around and rumored for years. He always plays it coy, but has never fully shut the door on the idea, and he certainly kept the idea open once again here.

But, he also pointed out how he doesn’t know if his talents are best used in the political space, because he prefers to focus on the larger values and beliefs that impact all of our lives, rather than the political game that divides so many. He also acknowledged that he knows, like all of us, most politicians end up trading their values for other things once they actually get in office, and he’s not willing to “bend” on who he is or what he believes in to get there:

“I don’t know. It could be. It’s something, look, I’ve, for the last six years, been studying different categories of where I could be most useful. What leadership roles am I equipped for? It’s inherently not my language. I’m more of a poet, philosopher.

I’m dealing with values here, and belief, which I believe are true progress, above the political sphere of left and right battling. That’s the space that I’m in now. I am aware that issues matter, that politics and legislation all matters, so I have not canceled it out. But I’ve given it, and will continue to give it, some real consideration. To measure myself, if that’s the right place where I can be the most useful.

But I’m not gong to bend my back and force myself in it. I will get in deep enough where, if I’m in it, I’ll look up and I wont’ be able to help it. I’ll just be there, I will be pulled in.”

McConaughey also explained that his kids are still at home and in school, so he will reevaluate once he gets all of them out of the house and settled into their next chapter:

“But it’s a very conscientious headspace to ask yourself, and I think it’s something we all need to ask: What if I was the leader of a state? Of a nation? It’s a great question to ask yourself, because you’d call yourself on some of your bull***. You go, ‘what decision would I make? What are my own beliefs and where do they transfer to what I believe for the masses?’

Now we all know, in politics, they’re not all doing what they believe. But they are doing. And I would not want to go bend anything where I would need to trade myself, and there’s a lot of betrayal that comes inherently in politics. And I work hard enough to try and get a good nights sleep to try and win the fair games, and fair fights which are already hard to win.

So for right now, I’ve got my three kids, I want to get them out of the house as healthy as possible and hopefully as much individuals as they are possible, and then when that opens up after me being the on-site father that I am and try to be, I will be open to considering what my next avenues are.”

I think that’s probably the most common sense, smart and honest answer I’ve heard someone with potential political ambitions have on the topic, and it’s easy to understand why he’s so apprehensive to get into the political world when it does so often change people and force them to compromise on what they believe.

From that perspective, it would probably be best if he just stayed out of it, but it also sounds like he’s not totally closed off to the idea down the road, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

The full podcast is available to watch below, and it’s a great episode:

The post “Betrayal Comes Inherently” – Matthew McConaughey Is Apprehensive To Enter Politics Because He Won’t “Bend” On His Values & Beliefs first appeared on Whiskey Riff.