Actor and director Clint Eastwood said he wished President Donald Trump acted "in a more genteel way," and voiced his support for former New York Mayor Bloomberg in the upcoming presidential election.
In a Wall Street Journal interview, the Gran Torino actor said that while he agreed with some of Trump's policies, the president should refrain from name-calling and tweeting. "I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level," Eastwood said.
Eastwood, who has mostly held conservative views and is a registered libertarian, also mentioned that he believe Bloomberg may be the ideal candidate. "The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there," he said.
The sentiment about Trump echoes similar comments Eastwood made in a 2016 interview with Esquire. "What Trump is onto is he's just saying what's on his mind. And sometimes it's not so good," he said. "And sometimes it's ... I mean, I can understand where he's coming from, but I don't always agree with it."
Although he didn't endorse Trump, Eastwood did say in the Esquire interview that he would vote for him over former First Lady Hillary Clinton. "I'd have to go for Trump ... you know, 'cause she's declared that she's gonna follow in Obama's footsteps. There's been just too much funny business on both sides of the aisle. "
In a 2008 interview with The Guardian, Eastwood spoke about his libertarian values and how he supported a hands-off approach to government. "I mean, I've always been a libertarian. Leave everybody alone," he said. "Let everybody else do what they want. Just stay out of everybody else's hair. So I believe in that value of smaller government. Give politicians power and all of a sudden they'll misuse it on ya."
In the two elections preceding 2016, Eastwood has supported Republican candidates in their race for the White House. According to the National Review, Eastwood endorsed Senator John McCain in the 2008 election. And in 2012, he supported Massachusetts Senator Mitt Romney in his campaign bid against President Obama.
In a speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, the actor/director spoke to an empty chair representing Obama. "There's a lot of conservative people, a lot of moderate people--Republicans, Democrats in Hollywood," Eastwood said. "It's just that conservative people, by the nature of the word itself, play it a little bit closer to the vest, and they don't go around hot-dogging it, but they're there."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
