Dennis Quaid is getting on his soapbox — on and off screen.
The Emmy-nominated actor, who portrays former President Ronald Reagan in the upcoming drama “Reagan,” opened up about his political views during Thursday’s episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience.”
“I’ve been an independent all my life,” Quaid told host Joe Rogan. “I’ve always believed in the pendulum of politics and culture. … And in fact, Republicans and Democrats need each other. They keep each other from going too far.”
He added: “Our nation is based on compromise, which winds up being kind of the best way forward. Not everybody gets what they want, but the important stuff shakes out in the end. But that doesn’t seem to be the way things are working right now.”
Quaid has previously been vocal in his support of former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, telling Piers Morgan in a May interview that he will likely vote for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
The actor also got candid about his thoughts on how politics has impacted the entertainment industry, including the campaign for his latest film.
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Earlier in the show, Rogan shared his criticism of Hollywood for its alleged lack of political diversity.
“There’s people that had differing opinions about things, but they would never speak out because it could damage their career,” Rogan said. “And it really can,” he added, saying Hollywood will “blackball you.”
Quaid went on to posit that while political correctness in entertainment became prominent in the ‘90s, the political climate has gotten to the point where “you’re getting warned to keep your mouth shut because it turned upside down.”
He added there were “a couple of attempts to cancel me” during the production of “Reagan.” The Sean McNamara-directed historical drama, set for an Aug. 30 release, is a biopic about the late Republican president.
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Quaid said online promotion of the film was censored by Facebook, alleging the social media platform banned advertisements out of concern the content could “sway an election.”
“The Parent Trap” star said Facebook later addressed the “mistake” as an error in its “automatic systems.”
In a statement to Newsweek, a Facebook spokesperson said the networking site’s systems “mistakenly determined that content about President Reagan required prior authorization in accordance with our policies for ads about social issues, elections or politics.”
“To me, just the act of banning or censoring that material is an attempt to sway an election,” Quaid said.
