Will Smith says he is considering running for office: ‘I will certainly do my part’
The actor says he is waiting for the office to ‘get cleaned up a little’ first
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Your support makes all the difference.Will Smith has opened up about his political ambitions, with the actor saying he might consider running for office “at some point” in the future in a podcast appearance on Monday.
The 52-year-old was asked about his views on joining politics and his brushes with racism on the “Pod Save America” podcast hosted by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor.
"I think for now I’ll let that office get cleaned up a little bit," Smith said, adding: "and then I’ll consider that at some point down the line".
The actor said he “absolutely” has an opinion and believes in fostering understanding between people, as well as the possibility of social harmony.
“I will certainly do my part, whether it remains artistic or, at some point, ventures into the political arena,” he added.
The Men in Black actor and four times Grammy winner also shared his own experiences of growing up as a Black man in the US, saying he has been called with the n-word at least five times.
"I’ve been called [n-word] to my face probably five or six times. And fortunately for my psyche, I’ve never been called [n-word] by a smart person," Smith said. "I grew up with the impression that racists and racism were stupid, and they were easy to get around. I just had to be smarter now while they were very dangerous. I had never looked into the eyes of a racist and saw anything that I perceived as intellect."
He said he saw more systemic racism when he entered his acting career and said he a noticed “a difference between ignorance and evil”.
“Fortunately, ignorance is more prevalent than blatant evil, so I’ve always been encouraged that the process of education and understanding could alleviate some of the more dangerous and difficult aspects of racism that have unfortunately been embedded in the very fibres of our country,” Smith said.
Smith has been promoting his new Netflix series Amend: The Fight For America. He last hinted at a turn in politics back in 2015 when he said then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s statements would drive him to run for office.
“If people keep saying all the crazy kinds of stuff they’ve been saying on the news lately about walls and Muslims, they’re going to force me into the political arena,” he said at the time to CBS News.
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