Jennifer Lawrence Said She Was a Republican Before Donald Trump Was Elected

Jennifer Lawrence said she used to be a Republican and backed John McCain in the 2008 presidential elections, during an appearance on podcast Absolutely Not.

paris, france september 24 jennifer lawrence attends the christian dior womenswear springsummer 2020 show as part of paris fashion week on september 24, 2019 in paris, france photo by stephane cardinale corbiscorbis via getty images
(Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain)
  • Jennifer Lawrence said she used to be a Republican, revealing she backed John McCain against Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential elections.
  • Lawrence said the election of Donald Trump in 2016 "changed everything."
  • "It feels like there's been a line drawn in the sand," she said.

Jennifer Lawrence said she used to be "a little Republican," revealing she voted for John McCain over Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential elections, during a recent appearance on the podcast Absolutely Not. Lawrence said that she previously aligned with the Republican Party on "fiscal" matters but disagreed on "social issues," before stating that the election of Donald Trump "changed everything" regarding her association with the party. 

"It's extremely hard to talk about politics. You don't want to. I'm an actor, I want everyone to see my movies," Lawrence told host Heather McMahan. "I grew up Republican. The first president, my first time voting, I voted for John McCain. I was a little Republican."

"I was fortunate to grow up in a Republican house, where I could see the fiscal benefits of some of the Republican policies, and I could also see that the social issues weren’t in line with my views," Lawrence continued. "But then, for me, when Donald Trump got elected, that just changed everything."

"This is an impeached president who’s broken many laws and has refused to condemn white supremacy, and it feels like there’s been a line drawn in the sand, and I just, I don’t give a fuck. I guess that's the bottom line."

As the Independent reports, Lawrence previously spoke about her changing political beliefs in an October episode of Ilana Glazer's web series Cheat Sheet. "I’m grateful in a weird way that I have the Republican perspective, growing up in a house of Republicans and hearing why we should vote Republican—for tax reasons, for religious reasons," she said. "And then, you know, you grow up and start becoming a citizen of the world and my personal beliefs started to change."

"I thought, 'Well, I guess it is fair for me to pay taxes, because that’s kind of like paying rent to live in this amazing country, and I like things like hospitals and schools and it makes sense to [play] my part as a citizen to make this country as great as it can be.'"

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.