Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey says he's intentionally not taking sides on various political issues as he considers a possible run for Texas governor, though he did offer some criticism of the state's controversial new abortion law.
McConaughey, who has said he's "measuring" a possible gubernatorial run, spoke with The New York Times' podcast Sway and was asked about Texas' law banning abortion at about six weeks into a pregnancy. The actor told the Times that "I'm not going to come out and tell you right now on this show, here's where I stand on abortion." He did, however, argue that the Texas law "feels a little juvenile in its implementation to me." The actor also took issue with the fact that the law doesn't make exceptions for rape or incest, saying, "I got a problem with that."
"And also, six weeks," he said. "Six weeks? If you're saying that your discussion of abortion is even on the table to consider, six weeks does not really make that a honest consideration."
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Host Kara Swisher, though, asked McConaughey why he hasn't been letting "anybody know who you're for, who you're against," playing a clip of former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) criticizing the actor for not revealing his stance on key issues. McConaughey told the Times this is "on purpose" and that "taking sides on a political issue right now, to me, precedes the discussion of something larger and much more important," including questions about the "purpose of democracy" and about "what the hell is politics?"
On the issue of voting rights, McConaughey told the Times he doesn't "know enough about that to be able to discuss the details on how I feel about that," though he added that he believes it "should be easier to vote." He also argued it's "necessary to be aggressively centric to possibly salvage democracy in America right now."
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