Zachary Levi on Supporting Trump: "I Felt Peace"
Zachary Levi has defended his decision to publicly endorse Donald Trump for president, stating that he experienced a sense of calm in doing so.
"I felt peace because I knew that this was more important than saving my career," Levi explained on "The Megyn Kelly Show." "We too often fall into these paradigms...of self-preservation, and it is not good. We need to be wise, we want to survive, we want to live and flourish...but we can't merely make decisions off of, 'Well I hope nothing bad happens to me.' You got to sacrifice."
Levi endorsed Trump after initially supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He officially announced his support at a rally in Michigan in September 2019.
"What am I really afraid of at the end of the day? That I'm somehow going to lose jobs in an industry that I already believe is completely falling apart and that won't even be creating jobs for me in a few years anyway?" Levi told Kelly. "Like come on. If I lose all of my acting career, and I hope I don't, and so far I haven't... But none of that matters. If the world goes off a cliff, what does it matter?"
He continued, saying that Trump is "doing what he said he was going to do" as president. "And more than that, these are some of the things I was kind of even secretly hoping he was going to do because...we do deserve to know what's going on," Levi added.
In the past, Whoopi Goldberg criticized Levi's endorsement, arguing that Hollywood is a "mixed bunch" that isn't overwhelmingly liberal. Levi responded by stating that while there may have been more balance in the past, "you really have to be at a certain level of your career [now] to really get away with [being an outspoken Republican in Hollywood]."
Despite the potential backlash, Levi encouraged other Trump supporters in Hollywood to speak out. "Our industry is going to be...gonzo," he said. "The pandemic and the strikes...they've already eroded it so much. My cry to all of you out there, you closeted Trump voters, it's now or never."