Matthew McConaughey Speaks Out Against ‘Illiberals,’ ‘Extreme’ Right, And Cancel Culture In New Interview

OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

Matthew McConaughey speaks out regarding political divide in America, cancel culture, and the coronavirus pandemic, according to Fox News.

“You need liberals. What I don’t think we need is the illiberals. And what I don’t think that some liberals see is that they’re often being cannibalized by the illiberals,” McConaughey said.

“Now there are extremes on both sides that I think are unfair, that I don’t think are the right place to be.”

“The extreme left and the extreme right completely illegitimize the other side, the liberal and conservative side, which we need in certain places.”

“The two extremes illgeitimze those two sides. Or they exaggerate that side’s stance into an irrational state that makes no sense and that’s not fair when either side does that.”

“Where the waterline is going to land on this freedom of speech and what we allow and what we don’t and where this cancel culture goes, where that waterline lands is a very interesting place that we are engaged in right now as a society that we’re trying to figure out because we haven’t found the right spot,” he explained.

“You’ve got to have confrontation to have unity. That’s when a democracy works really well.”

“I would argue we don’t have true confrontation right now, confrontation that gives some validation and legitimizes the opposing point of view.”

“We don’t give a legitimacy or validation to an opposing point of view, we make it persona non grata, and that’s unconstitutional.”

“Limbo is the hardest part.”

I think we all do better when we have a definitive yes or no or an understanding of when the ending is going to be of something, of some crisis.”

“We haven’t had that for some time. So, it’s been sort of a one-way ticket to limbo.”

“Quite a few of us get that, what I call, anticipation fatigue. For the last eight months every night many people are going to bed thinking ‘maybe tomorrow it’s over’ and then the next day they’re let down, then they do it again, and they’re let down.”

“Then you’re burning 30% or 40% of your energy because you’re thinking it may be over soon. It does look like we’ve got a way out of it now.”

From Fox News:

Although he didn’t elaborate, McConaughey was likely referencing the coronavirus vaccines as “a way out of it.” On Monday, the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine were shipped out to Americans, with the first dose going to a Queens health care worker who spent the last 10 months on the front lines of the pandemic.