It is no secret that much of Hollywood is left of center and Kamala Harris has racked up more than her fair share of endorsements from tinseltown. But the reasons these celebrities are giving for their support of the Harris-Walz ticket is what is most telling.
The latest star to jump on the bandwagon? Bryan Cranston.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Allie Beth Stuckey, author of Toxic Empathy, to discuss what is behind Cranston’s endorsement and his past behavior towards people who support Donald Trump.
The Endorsement
While the Breaking Bad star has popped up at a number of virtual events for Harris since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, he made his support official while speaking at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend.
At the event titled “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom,” the actor made abortion access the focus of his remarks.
CRANSTON: I‘m not a politician; I’m not a doctor or a lawyer, but I have played all of this on television. But I am a father of a daughter, and it’s important to me for her life now and for the future and for other fathers’ daughters to be able to have within their lifetime the fundamental right of freedom of choice. There should not be anyone but them deciding what happens to their own body. That’s why I’m enthusiastically supporting Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz.
Megyn’s takeaway from the endorsement: “He really, really wants to make sure his grandchildren can be aborted,” she said.
In Stuckey’s view, Cranston’s statement was “ridiculous” and she does not believe he is motivated to vote for Harris by “his love for his daughter” or anyone else. “Everyone has reproductive freedom – no one is stopping you from reproducing children if you want to,” she noted. “What we do want to restrict… is the killing of unborn children.”
But she knows the 68 year old is not alone in his claims. “It is amazing to me that he and how many other celebrities – Steph Curry, Jennifer Lawrence, Taylor Swift – have all said their number one reason to vote for communism, basically, to vote for open borders, is abortion,” Stuckey said. “How superficial is that?”
Friend to Foe
To that point, Megyn said she “loved” Cranston in Breaking Bad, but she “cannot stand [him] as an individual” due to the way he treated a mutual friend.
“A dear friend of mine was one of this guy’s closest friends for decades, and Bryan Cranston dumped my friend as his friend because he is a Republican and voted for Trump,” she explained. “He is not even a huge Republican… but he ended their lifelong friendship just because he turned out to be a Trump supporter.”
She called the behavior “vile” and “right on brand” with Cranston’s messaging at the rally. Stuckey agreed. “[We all] have people in our lives who we love dearly and disagree with and maybe we have to decide for a period of time that we are not going to talk about politics,” she said. “That is what mature people do. That is what kind and compassionate people do.”
“But that is not what petty, political people do,” she concluded. “And that is Bryan Cranston.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Stuckey by tuning in to episode 916 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.