Matthew McConaughey confirms running for Texas governor is a 'true consideration' and says he has 'some things to teach and share'
Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has revealed that he is seriously considering running to be the next Governor of Texas.
The 51-year-old Lone Star actor outlined that he is a considering moving into politics with the governor election next year during an episode of The Balanced Voice podcast on Wednesday.
McConaughey has previously refused to rule out entering politics and has toyed with the idea of trying to win governor's office.
Actor Matthew McConaughey has announced that he is seriously considering running as Governor of Texas
The 'Greenlights' author was speaking to Houston-based podcast host and Crime Stoppers CEO, Rania Mankarious (pictured)
The Greenlights author told host of the Houston-based podcast and Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious that he had been looking to the future.
'I'm looking into now, what is my leadership role because I do think I have some things to teach and share,' he said.
'What is my role, what is my category in my next chapter of life that I'm going into now?'
Mankarious asked the actor if he was considering whether to run for governor of Texas, to which he responded: 'It's a true consideration.'
In the past, McConaughey has not labelled himself as either left or right leaning but said 'extremes' on both sides were 'unfair'.
He accused political 'illiberals' of 'completely 'illegitimising the other side' - saying that liberals are 'often being cannibalised' by hardliners on left and right.
He said there is 'no room for any consensus' and accused both sides of 'exaggerating' each other's positions into an 'irrational state'.
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britian late last year, he did not identify himself with either Democrats or Republicans. 'You need liberals, what I don't think we need is the illiberals and what I don't think that some liberals see is that they're often being cannibalised by the illiberals,' he said.
Actor Matthew McConaughey (pictured) accused political 'illiberals' of 'completely 'illegitimising the other side' during an appearance on Good Morning Britain in December 2020
Asked by Piers Morgan about his views on free speech, McConaughey said that 'the extreme left and the extreme right completely illegitimise the other side, the liberal and the conservative side which we need in certain places.'
'The two extremes legitimize those two sides, or they exaggerate that side's stance into an irrational state that makes no sense - and that's not fair when either side does that,' he said.
'Where the waterline's going to land on this freedom of speech, and what we allow and what we don't and where this cancel culture goes, where that waterline lands is a very interesting place that we're engaged in right now as a society because we haven't found the right spot.'
McConaughey, 51, added: 'You've got to have confrontation to have unity, I think we can all agree on that, and that's when a democracy works really well.
'I would argue to say we don't even have true confrontation right now. True confrontation at least gives some validation to the opposing point of view or legitimizes the opposing point of view.
'Right now, we don't have true confrontation because we don't even give legitimacy to an opposing point of view, we give no validation to it, we make that view persona non grata. In a way, it's sort of unconstitutional.'
Current Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott (pictured in October) is up for re-election in 2022
Republican Gregg Abbott is currently up for reelection in the state in 2021.
Speaking on The Hugh Hewitt Show in November last year, McConaughey refused to rule out running for governor.
'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,' he said.
'Look, 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.'
Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey (pictured), 51, has not ruled out the prospect of running for Governor of Texas
When later asked to expand on his comments, McConaughey said that while he has no plans of becoming involved in politics 'right now', he will consider 'leadership roles' in the future.
He said: 'As I move forward in life, yes, am I gonna consider leadership roles where I can be most useful.
'I'd love to. I'm doing that regardless.'
McConaughey, who won an Oscar for his role in 2013 AIDS drama Dallas Buyers Club, would be the latest in a line of actors who have won political office in the United States.
They include Presidents Donald Trump and the late Ronald Reagan, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Carmel Mayor Clint Eastwood and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura.
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March 12, 2021
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