Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized actor Matthew McConaughey’s appeal for voters to consider independent candidates during a podcast interview Wednesday, according to Fox News. The exchange took place about two weeks before the midterm elections, as Democrats sought to challenge President Donald Trump and Republican candidates.
McConaughey posted a video on Instagram Sunday questioning the idea that voting for an independent candidate amounts to wasting a vote. He said a small group of independent lawmakers could significantly affect the balance of power in Washington and asked whether voting for the major parties had produced results voters wanted.
Journalist Kara Swisher, Clinton’s co-host on the podcast “High Stakes,” shared McConaughey’s video during their discussion. Swisher said she did not think he had explained the appeal of independent candidates effectively to viewers.
Clinton said she considered the video’s timing and message unfortunate. She argued that McConaughey’s reach as an actor could influence voters at a moment when Democrats were trying to stop what she described as corruption, impunity and damage under Trump. Those characterizations were Clinton’s, not independently established findings in the source material.
Clinton also contended that Democrats were fielding candidates who represented a broad range of Americans. She urged voters to support Democrats over Republicans, saying that otherwise Trump would have two more years with less constraint. Her remarks framed the election as a choice between the parties rather than as an opportunity to support independent candidates.
Fox News reported that it sought comment from McConaughey’s representative but had not received a response by publication time. The article did not include a direct reply from the actor or further explanation from his representative.
The report said Clinton and former President Bill Clinton had recently begun campaigning for Democratic candidates. Bill Clinton was making public appearances on candidates’ behalf, while Hillary Clinton was appearing on podcasts with Swisher.
The source also cited reservations from Democratic strategist Mally Smith about the usefulness of the former president and former secretary of state in the campaign. Smith told Fox News that the Clintons might connect with the party’s base and voters already highly engaged in politics, but could have difficulty attracting wider attention in a challenging media environment. Her assessment was presented as a strategist’s view, not as an established measure of the campaign’s impact.
