Hillary Clinton criticized actor Matthew McConaughey this week for urging voters to consider independent candidates ahead of the midterm elections, calling his message “unfortunate” at a moment she says is critical for defeating Republicans.
Speaking with Kara Swisher, Clinton said McConaughey’s reach made his comments especially problematic.
“I think it’s really unfortunate that somebody who’s such a great actor with such a reach would be two weeks before a midterm that is aimed at stopping Trump’s corruption, impunity and extreme damage to the country would suggest that any independent candidate is really a better choice,” Clinton said.
She argued that Democratic candidates already represent a wide swath of the electorate.
“Right now, we have a broad range of Democrats running, and Democrats are representing, I think, every kind of American in these elections,” Clinton continued. “And we know, I mean, it’s just a fact. We know that if we don’t vote for Democrats to defeat Republicans, then Trump will have two more unchecked years to do whatever he wants to our country.”
Clinton’s remarks came after McConaughey told his millions of followers earlier in the week that independent candidates deserve serious consideration rather than dismissal as spoilers.
“They’ve been telling us for years that an independent vote is a wasted vote,” McConaughey said. “Well, a great question for our time is: ‘How’s that unwasted vote been working out for you?'”
He went further, framing independents as a legitimate path forward rather than a protest option.
“Independents belong in the fight. Not as a protest, not as a spoiler, but as a real and potential winner on the ballot and considered seriously by us,” McConaughey said. “Independent does not mean you’re middle of the road. Independent is the original road. Before there was ever a Republican or Democrat, there was an American.”
The Academy Award-winning actor tied his argument to the nation’s founding, citing recent polling data in his remarks.
“Our birth certificate is not the Declaration of Compromise; it’s the Declaration of Independence,” McConaughey said.
The exchange highlights a growing tension in the run-up to the midterms between party loyalists urging straight-ticket turnout and voices, including McConaughey’s, encouraging Americans to look beyond the two-party system.
