Breaking with her anti-Donald Trump celebrity contemporaries, actress Jennifer Garner says she’s willing to help the president keep some of the campaign promises he made to working class Americans.
“I’m looking forward to helping him make good on what they saw as promises, a mandate from him, that he was going to make their lives better,” Garner told the Washington Post.
After seeing how her native West Virginia overwhelmingly voted for Trump, Garner said she felt inspired to lobby for policies that would bring jobs back to those economically devastated communities.
“People felt like Trump really understood them, that he was going to come in and create jobs for them,” she said. “They felt like they needed something to just turn everything upside down.”
The Miracles from Heaven star spent the weekend meeting with top Capitol Hill staff members. She was also the keynote speaker Saturday at the annual National Governors Association winter meeting, and had booked a sit-down with Ivanka Trump to discuss funding for child care. The meeting was reportedly canceled due to scheduling conflicts.
While aware of the fact that many A-listers in Hollywood “want to turn their back to this administration,” Garner said she sees things differently.
“Send me a ticket to Mar-a-Lago. I’m ready to go down and have a steak and a good chat,” she joked. “I really think it’s great, if he’s willing to help the poor kids who got him elected.”
To be sure, the actress’s politics have long aligned with the Democrats. In August, she hosted a high-profile fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. In 2012, Garner gave President Barack Obama’s Victory Fund $12,500.
But children are her passion, Garner says.
For nine years, Garner has sat on the board of Save the Children, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization that provides relief for children in developing countries.
The 44-year-old actress says she’s just as committed to helping poor children here at home, and is doing everything she can to enlist the help of Trump’s administration.
“If he’s willing to help the poor kids who got him elected, then let’s do it. They certainly think he’s going to,” Garner said.
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