Actress Salma Hayek spoke at length about her support for Hillary Clinton in the the 2016 presidential election, telling the Daily Beast that the Democratic frontrunner is the most qualified candidate to lead the fight against the terrorist group ISIS.
“This election has been an eye-opener, because there are a lot of things about America that were not as palpable as before that have come out in this election. There’s a lot more racism than we have ever acknowledged before, in this country of freedom,” the 49-year-old Oscar nominee told the outlet, echoing similar comments she made last year.
“But there are also a lot more people that want equality and care about the environment, and care about education and health and equal pay for men and women, and no discrimination — the absolute opposite,” Hayek added.
The Mexican-American actress, who joined the “Latinos for Hillary” organization in October, told the Daily Beast that she feels many young people who are casting votes for Sen. Bernie Sanders do so only to virtue-signal to their friends.
“I am all for the environment. [My position] is maybe closer to what Bernie says. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for Bernie, because you have to vote for what is best for America—not what I’m going to show my friends I voted for,” she said. “You have to take a lot more things into consideration. If somebody is dehydrated and you give them lots of water, you kill them. We have been operating in a system for way too long. If you want to change the system you have to bring somebody that is different who understands the system.”
But Clinton is qualified in more ways than just being the candidate who best understands the system, Hayek adds: “Men are too passionate and their egos are too stubborn. She is levelheaded. She is kind. She has a heart. She’s human. She’s smart. But nothing brings her down. They’ve been trying to put this woman down for 30 years. She’s indestructible. She gets up with grace. And she gets things done with grace — not bullying.”
Clinton is also best positioned to tackle the looming threat of ISIS, says the actress.
“Maybe it’s not as exciting, but it’s very dangerous right now to put the American army in the hands of the wrong people. Either one extreme, or the other. These are not times to be messing around,” Hayek added. “I live in Europe and I tell you, it’s very, very dangerous. The only person that is truly respected by all the other countries is her. When they ask all of these people, ‘How would you deal with ISIS,’ I listen to them respond, and I tremble—except for when she talks.”
Hayek has spoken out often during this election season, usually to criticize Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. On Tuesday, the actress blasted Trump over the candidate’s recent gaffe at an upstate New York rally, where he accidentally substituted “7-11” for “9/11” while discussing the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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