Captain America star Chris Evans shared his feelings about Donald Trump’s presidency in a wide-ranging interview this week, explaining that he still finds the Republican billionaire’s political rise “unbelievable.”
“I feel rage. I feel fury,” the 35-year-old actor told Esquire for the magazine’s April cover story.
“It’s unbelievable. People were just so desperate to hear someone say that someone is to blame,” he added. “They were just so happy to hear that someone was angry. Hear someone say that Washington sucks. They just want something new without actually understanding. I mean, guys like Steve Bannon—Steve Bannon!—this man has no place in politics.”
Evans — who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign — has been an outspoken critic of Trump on social media. The actor has criticized the president’s executive orders on immigration, and last year accused him of “energizing lies.” Shortly after the election, Evans called for an end to the Electoral College, which secured Trump’s victory even as Clinton won the popular vote.
Evans told Esquire that he is aware it may not be smart for him, from a business perspective, to be so outspoken about his political beliefs.
“Look, I’m in a business where you’ve got to sell tickets. But, my God, I would not be able to look at myself in the mirror if I felt strongly about something and didn’t speak up,” he told the magazine. “I think it’s about how you speak up. We’re allowed to disagree. If I state my case and people don’t want to go see my movies as a result, I’m okay with that.”
Still, the actor acknowledged the possibility that people could be turned off to differing opinions if rhetoric becomes too heated, explaining that instead of yelling about one’s views, it is now a “time for calm.”
“Because not everyone who voted for Trump is going to be some horrible bigot,” he said. “There are a lot of people in that middle; those are the people you can’t lose your credibility with. If you’re trying to change minds, by spewing too much rhetoric you can easily become white noise.”
Elsewhere in the long interview, Evans revealed that he may hang up the Captain America shield after his upcoming appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and its planned sequel, which will shoot back-to-back beginning in April.
Read Evans’ full interview with Esquire here.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum