Trump win emboldens other celeb candidates: Ben Affleck
Actor says he likes the idea of public service but, having spent enough time around elected officials, he understands the downside of the gig too
OK, we knew this would happen. Politically-minded folks in the entertainment business surely would look at reality-show star turned President-elect Donald Trump’s improbable ascendancy to the highest office in the land and think, “Hey, why not me?”
Move over Kanye and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — actor Ben Affleck, who has long been involved on the political periphery, might be the one to watch.
“The one great thing about November of 2016 is that all of a sudden I became qualified to run for president,” Affleck said in an interview this week with Entertainment Tonight. His credits include the current Live By Night, Argo, Gigli — and a handful of turns testifying on Capitol Hill about the Congo, a region to which he’s devoted philanthropic efforts.
He tells ET he likes the idea of public service, and called it “noble.” But unlike so many fresh-faced idealists, Affleck has spent enough time around elected officials to understand the downside of the gig.
“It’s just this relentless cash suck, where you’re just glad-handing and making phone calls and doing cocktail parties and trying to gobble up as much money as you can,” he said.
