Actor Jeff Daniels said Monday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that some Republicans “want white minority rule in a country where the majority is supposed to carry the day.”
Daniels said, “Right after 9/11, in the days after, I remember a moment when we were one. We weren’t Democrats. We weren’t Republicans. We were Americans. We had been attacked, one nation under God, indivisible. There was a moment. Then it didn’t last very long, and then it went away, and we started to divide.”
He continued, “You know, the Republican Party, I grew up in that house. My dad was a Republican. My mom was a Republican. I guess in the old sense, you know, and they’re there, they’re still there.”
He added, “I live in Michigan. We’re not stupid. We know BS when we see it. I think the people I’m around, and, yes, there are those who are very pro-Trump and flying the flags and still singing the songs, but there are a lot of people who are over it. They just want someone to tell them the truth, like in Macomb County, swing county, in Michigan. They were Reagan Democrats or Biden Republicans and Trump came through Michigan in 2016 and promised these men and women of all races that I’m going to get your job back, that specific job you lost, I’m going to get it back. He didn’t do it. They voted for him. He didn’t do it. He lied to him. They don’t like being lied to, so Michigan went Biden. They’re just looking for somebody, a Democrat, a Republican, anybody who will tell them the truth and make this world a better place for their kids or grandkids. I don’t know if partial unity is possible, but 60/40 is. If some Republicans look at the polls, maybe I should stand up to him. Maybe now is the time. I would hope there would be people that could do that in the next year or so and that there would be a change where we could get the guardrails of the rule of law and a compromise, and nobody gets everything they want. Democrats or Republicans and everybody has to compromise, and you come out with a deal. That’s what a democracy is. it is a tool for people who disagreed to stay in the room and get a deal.”
Daniels concluded, “I think one of the things we can do is recognize there’s a new America. There are people in this country who do not want that to come. A lot of it’s based on white people now being in the minority. They want white minority rule in a country where the majority is supposed to carry the day. There are people that —I think if we get in the same room again and we’re able to do that, then maybe we can come to an agreement on something. I don’t know. It’s hard right now. I don’t think we need another tragedy to come together. I think we need people to understand maybe this new America will be better, an all-inclusive America will be the best and the brightest.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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