Like fellow Boston-bred star Chris Evans, Matt Damon wasn’t thrilled with the way President Donald Trump reacted to the tragic events in Charlottesville.
Prior to the debut of his new film “Suburbicon” at the Venice Film Festival this week, the actor sat down for a wide-ranging chat with the Hollywood Reporter. Damon didn’t hesitate to offer his thoughts on the state of affairs and bashed the commander-in-chief for his reponse to the recent attack.
“It was just shocking,” the 46-year-old Cambridge said of the rally in Virginia. “Then the night that the President [made his] ‘many sides’ comment was absolutely abhorrent.”
Damon was also horrified by the pictures and videos coming out of Charlottesville, which showed groups of young men screaming racist chants and other obscenities. The actor, who’s taken heat in the past for his own remarks on race, told the Hollywood Reporter that he feels “naive” for being blind to the extent of racism in America today, adding that it’s worse than what he thought.
“It was shocking to see those kids — they looked 20 and 30 years old — in button-down shirts, with Tiki torches, walking down the street,” Damon said. “I naively thought that, behind our generation, [another one] was coming with more awareness and inclusiveness, and that everything was getting better with each generation.”
He added, “And to see these young, aggrieved, white boys walking with their torches and screaming ‘Jews will not replace us!’ It was just shocking.”
Overall, Damon said that he’s worried about what’s happening to the country under President Trump and hopes that the investigation by FBI director Rober Mueller wraps up soon.
“I’m obviously very concerned with the state of things and with the damage that’s being done to our institutions,” Damon said. “Robert Mueller is kind of representing these institutions at this point, and just by some trick of history he’s the one who’s essentially defending them against these attacks, so hopefully his investigation is going smoothly. He can’t wrap things up soon enough, as far as I’m concerned.”
