Professor Matthew McConaughey says "alright" to potentially running for governor of Texas
Matthew McConaughey has been a lot of things over the course of various careers: He’s been a beach bum, an immortal wizard, the star of The Beach Bum, a guy who drives Lincolns, a bourbon spokesman, a rom-com icon, a guy in a Chevelle picking up high school girls, a god visiting from the heavens to enjoy our human Olympics, and, of course, a distinguished professor at the University Of Texas. Still, though, his weathered cowboy heart desires more. Something that can actually leave a lasting impact on the beautiful big rock we call America, or at least more of a lasting impact than his awards, his millions of dollars, his family, and his aircraft carrier full of classy Lincoln automobiles… something like politics.
Yes, if you felt a bone-aching chill run through the air this something, it wasn’t climate change generating another polar vortex. It was, in fact, the haunting echo of another celebrity deciding that their specific set of skills (which include “looking presentable,” “reading,” and “being famous”) would translate perfectly to a career in politics. But hey, it worked out for Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump, who says it can’t work out for Matthew McConaughey as well? He’s a professor, and not at a fake college that he made up as a tax shelter. The University Of Texas is a real place! It doesn’t just exist on paper!
Anyway, McConaughey briefly touched on the idea of running for governor of Texas in 2022 during an appearance on the Balanced Voice podcast (which is run by an anti-crime nonprofit in Houston and not a Republican think tank, despite the name), and while he didn’t say that a turn toward politics is a sure-thing, he did say that this potential campaign was “a true consideration”—meaning, presumably, he’s really thinking about it, possibly while shirtless on a beach or shirtless in a Lincoln. Entertainment Weekly notes that McConaughey recently told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show that he didn’t have any plans to get into politics, referring to it as a “broken business,” but it sounds like he has at least softened on the idea.
As for why he might be drawn to a political career, McConaughey says he has a lot of “wisdom to share” that is “obvious” to him but is apparently helpful to “youngsters.” He says he’s interested in exploring “leadership teaching positions” that would allow him to help other people, particularly younger people, which is at least a more noble position for possibly pursuing a political career than “I want to help my asshole friends and stupid kids get rich” (which is obviously not a specific reference to anyone in particular). We’ve still got a year or so before McConaughey’s political campaign would have to get off the ground, so we’ll have to wait and see how this goes.