Jeff Daniels says continuing to have faith in President Donald Trump is a dumb and dumber move.
The Emmy-winning actor appeared on MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace‘s “The Best People” podcast Monday, and about 21 minutes into the episode, Daniels got blunt about how he feels about the people who voted for Trump with the hopes that he’d help with their financial burdens.
“I hope you’re losing tons of money, those of you who thought this would be OK,” Daniels said. “My question is, what are you guys going to do about it?”
Wallace pointed out to Daniels that Michigan — the state in which the “Dumb and Dumber” star has been living since 1986, rather than Hollywood — voted for Trump. She went on to note that the president’s tariffs “are going to hurt your neighbors.”
Wallace has a point. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that General Motors, which is based in Michigan, took a $1.1 billion hit from tariffs in its second-quarter earnings. The outlet notes that although GM still beat analyst expectations for the period, the automaker expects the impact of Trump’s tariffs to worsen.
“I think, at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to do it,” Daniels said of Trump supporters turning on the president. “‘Wait a minute, the grocery bill is what, $180 more? I can’t get that car that we have to have unless I pay another $8,000. What? Who do I blame for that? Who do I see about that?’ One person.”
Daniels then doubled down on his belief that Trump — whom the actor described as a “snake oil salesman” — will ultimately lose support not because of his shady morals, but because people will struggle financially.
“At the end of the day, it would be about just the price of eggs, did it go up or down? ‘Because that’s what he told me, he was going to lower the price of eggs or my grocery bill.’ I think that still matters, at least out in the middle of the country, that matters. The money matters.” Elsewhere in the interview, the “Squid and the Whale” star made it clear that Trump’s values are what’s most concerning to him.
“We’ve lost decency, we’ve lost civility, we’ve lost respect for the rule of law — lost it,” Daniels said. “We have normalized verbal abuse on the internet. We’ve normalized bullying; much as the woke generation tried to, you know, change that, it’s back. Out the window goes character, integrity.”
He added, “I mean, nobody has great things to say about politicians. They never have. Go back to Mark Twain. But ideally, we’re supposed to elect the best of us. Not the worst of us. He’s everything that’s wrong with not just America, but with being a human being.”