McConaughey Addresses Rumors of Run for Office

'It would be up to the people more than it would me,' he says of possible gubernatorial bid
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2020 11:35 AM CST
McConaughey Addresses Rumors of Run for Office
Matthew McConaughey addresses the audience during the Sony Pictures Entertainment presentation at CinemaCon on April 23, 2018, in Las Vegas.   (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

He's been an astronaut, an assassin, and a stripper in the movies, and a university professor in real life. Now, Matthew McConaughey isn't ruling out a new real-life role—that of governor. The actor was speaking with radio host Hugh Hewitt about his new book on Tuesday when Hewitt asked if McConaughey was interested in running for governor of Texas, his home state. "I don't know. I mean, that wouldn't be up to me. It would be up to the people more than it would me," McConaughey replied. "Politics seems to be a broken business to me right now. And when politics redefines its purpose, I could be a hell of a lot more interested." He also said he wanted to "get behind personal values to rebind our social contracts with each other as Americans, as people again."

That led to a lot of online chatter, and Stephen Colbert got a slightly clearer answer as McConaughey appeared on the Late Show on Wednesday. "I have no plans to do that right now," the 51-year-old said of a gubernatorial run, per CNN. "As I said, that would be up to a lot of other people" so "right now, no." Of course, "right now" is not forever, and McConaughey did express interest in some kind of leadership role. "As I move forward in life, am I going to consider leadership roles where I can be most useful? I'd love to," he told Colbert. "I'm doing that regardless. That's where I sit right now." Gubernatorial candidates must live in Texas for five years prior to election. McConaughey does live in the state with his wife, three kids, and 88-year-old mother, per People. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is up for reelection in 2022, per KXAS. (More Matthew McConaughey stories.)

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