PA ImagesClint Eastwood, a long-time Republican, has thrown his support behind Democrat Mike Bloomberg for the presidency.
It’s a seismic shift for the four-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker – while never officially endorsing current US President Donald Trump, he’s ‘approved of certain things he’s done’.
Eastwood’s political views have never been expressed obliquely, but even his oeuvre of work, from American Sniper to the recent Richard Jewell, sustains his conservative slant. However, considering Eastwood is also registered as a Libertarian, Bloomberg – a former mayor of New York and Republican turned Independent turned Democrat – isn’t necessarily a shocking choice.
PA ImagesIn a new interview with the Wall Street Journal, the 89-year-old said of the White House: ‘The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there.’
While conceding to supporting ‘certain things Trump has done’, Eastwood believes he should act ‘in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names’. ‘I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level,’ he added.
PA ImagesThe actor-director first made his support for the billionaire tycoon-cum-president known ahead of the 2016 election, telling Esquire: ‘I’d have to go for Trump… you know, because [Hilary Clinton’s] declared that she’s gonna follow in [Barack] Obama’s footsteps. There’s been just too much funny business on both sides of the aisle.’
Most memorably of all, Eastwood delved into political debate in a now-infamous conversation with an empty chair at the 2012 Republican National Convention – an invisible Obama had been invited to sit in the seat.
Looking back, however, he regrets it. In the years afterwards, when asked of any troubles he had, he said: ‘I guess when I did that silly thing at the Republican convention, talking to the chair.’
Eastwood doesn’t hold any political ambitions now, however. ‘I was a Republican, but people never thought about their parties except at the national level. I drank a lot of tea and chatted with people. I told people, I’ll fix this, and I’ll fix that… you can’t have the same old people in office all the time,’ he said.
He even touched on the position of his films in today’s political climate, saying Gran Torino ‘has a certain relevance in Mr Trump’s America’. ‘It’s about a guy who’s a racist, a hard-ass. He didn’t like minorities much, of any kind. But he learns to appreciate people that he really hated,’ he said.
Trump is ramping up re-election campaign efforts after his impeachment acquittal by the Senate, ruling him to be not guilty on counts of obstructing Congress and abuse of power.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.