Bryan Cranston is no fan of President Trump. But the star of “Breaking Bad” fame had some strong words for anyone rooting for President Trump to fail. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Cranston was asked if he’d changed his opinion on Trump now that he’s been in office for a while (emphasis added):
It’s just astonishing to me. President Trump is not the person who I wanted to be in that office, and I’ve been very open about that. That being said, he is the president. If he fails, the country is in jeopardy. It would be egotistical for anyone to say, “I hope he fails.” To that person I would say, f*** you. Why would you want that? So you can be right?
I don’t want him to fail. I want him to succeed. I do. I honestly do. … And if you’ve got a good idea that helps the country, oh man, I’m gonna support you. I don’t care if you’re a Republican and I’m a Democrat or whatever, I don’t care. A good idea’s a good idea. Let’s do that. We’ve got to get away from this idea that our country is political football, and someone with a different opinion is the enemy. Assume they love this country as much as you do, and there’s always room for improvement. How can we make it better?
The country has undeniably been divided, increasingly, with politicians successfully helping to pit us against one another, sectioning us off into competing teams. Partisan politics has existed since the beginning of the country, but in recent decades, most notably in the advent of social media, those differences have been amplified to unprecedented levels.
Cranston’s call to get away from the idea that members of the opposing party or ideology are the enemy is spot on, as it’s fracturing the country, and only serves to benefit those in power. Of course, it was just a short year ago when Cranston was asked what he’d do if Trump won. The actor said he would “definitely move” while adding that “it’s not real to me that that would happen. I hope to God it won’t.” Shortly after Trump won, Cranston tweeted a bit of a walk back.
Although shocked and disappointed by the outcome, I hope the pres-elect will work to unify our wounded country. I sincerely wish him success
— Bryan Cranston (@BryanCranston) November 9, 2016
Seems like he’s stuck to the latter opinion rather than the former.