What Are Bryan Cranston's Politics — Left, Right, or in the Middle?

Leading up to the 2016 election, many celebrities used their platform to speak out against presidential candidate Donald Trump. One such outspoken celeb was Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.

On an October 2016 episode of The Bestseller Experiment podcast, the actor — who has previously said he's a democrat — revealed he would leave the United States if Trump were to be elected, saying (per USA Today): “I would definitely move. … It’s not real to me that that would happen. I hope to God it won’t.”

He also discussed what it would be like if he tried to play Trump as a character: “It’s hard for me to imagine trying to justify what this man has said and done. So, I don’t know if it’s actually possible for me to play the character, but it would be a challenge.”

Opinions aside, we all know how the 2016 election ended up and how the following four years played out. Even though Trump won the election, Bryan remained stateside and said during a December 2016 Today show appearance, “He was not my candidate, but he is going to be my president, and I truly hope that he does an exceptionally good job.”

Then, in October 2017, Bryan even went as far as to hope that Trump would succeed as president, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “If he fails, the country is in jeopardy. It would be egotistical for anyone to say, ‘I hope he fails.’ [...] I don’t want him to fail. I want him to succeed. I do. I honestly do.”

However, this change in the actor’s tone for the sake of the country doesn’t mean he supports President Trump’s actions or stances.

Now, why bring up quotes and events from years ago? Trump recently visited East Palestine, Ohio, to support the community after the train derailment that has led to chemical contamination. During his visit, Trump wore his trademark red MAGA baseball cap, which may have spurred Bryan to address the Republican-favored slogan during his recent interview on Who's Talking to Chris Wallace.

While they were touching on the topic of critical race theory, Bryan addressed why “Make America Great Again” could be viewed as a racist remark. He points out that the African American experience in America was never great. So, if Republicans want to make America great again, they need to factor in the experiences of minorities and people of color.

“From an African American experience, when was it ever great in America for the African American? When was it great?” Bryan rhetorically asked Chris Wallace.

Coming from a Democratic and open-minded perspective, Bryan hopes that others will start considering and accepting that their privilege has created blindspots to the experiences of others in our country.