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Matt Damon for president?
Michael Moore apparently thinks so. The filmmaker took part in a panel discussion hosted by the blog FireDogLake over the weekend and gave what seemed to be an endorsement for the actor, who, like Moore, is an outspoken liberal.
VIDEO: Matt Damon Schools Reporter, Defends Teacher
“I think that he has been very courageous in not caring about who he offends by saying the things that need to be said here, and if you want to win, the Republicans have certainly shown the way — that when you run someone who is popular, you win,” Moore said, according to published reports. “Sometimes even when you run an actor, you win. And I guess I only throw his name out there because I’d like us to start thinking that way.”
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While Damon has not publicly expressed a desire to run for office, he is well known for his political activism. During the 2008 presidential campaign, he endorsed Barack Obama and called Sarah Palin’s story “a bad Disney movie.”
But in an interview with Piers Morgan in March, Damon criticized the president.
VIDEO: Matt Damon Slams Republicans, Tea Party For Handling of Debt Ceiling Crisis
“I really think he misinterpreted his mandate. A friend of mine said to me the other day, I thought it was a great line, ‘I no longer hope for audacity,'” he said. “He’s doubled down on a lot of things, going back to education… the idea that we’re testing kids and we’re tying teachers salaries to how kids are performing on tests, that kind of mechanized thinking has nothing to do with higher order. We’re training them, not teaching them.”
More recently, at an event in Washington last week to promote the Save Our Schools March, the actor was asked his views on the debt ceiling debate.
STORY: Matt Damon Is Suddenly the Hollywood Liberal That Conservatives Love to Hate
“I’m so disgusted man,” he said. “It’s criminal that like, you know, so little is asked of people who are getting so much, I mean, I don’t mind paying more. I really don’t mind paying more taxes. I’d rather pay for taxes than cut like ‘Reading is Fundamental’ or ‘Head Start’ or some of these programs that are really helping kids.”
Damon criticized also the Tea Party for being willing to drive the American economy “off a cliff.”
Afterward, he was slammed by a slew of conservatives in the media, including Larry Elder and Andrew Breitbart.
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