The 52-year-old actor stopped by Fox News to discuss gun control in the aftermath of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Matthew McConaughey is putting rumors of him running for political office to rest. The 52-year-old actor stopped by Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier Tuesday, where he set the record straight about his political ambitions and spoke about the speech he made earlier, at the White House, in which he plead for stricter gun control legislation following the school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas.
"I am not running for political office," McConaughey stressed. "I'm here because on the 24th of May, I got the news that there was a mass shooting in the town that I was born in, Uvalde, Texas."
He continued, "As I said earlier, went home that night, hugged the kids, held on to them a little bit longer and tighter than usual, the next morning we loaded up and went down to Uvalde."
While McConaughey touched on his experience in Uvalde during his briefing in the White House's Brady Room Tuesday, he told Baier that the main thing he and his wife Camila Alves got out of their family's trip to Uvalde, was how much those who lost a loved one wanted to make sure their loss was not in vain.
"The main thing that we got out of it, was that every single family that lost a loved one or child said, 'You know what, I just want some way for the loss of my loved one's life to matter,'" he shared. "And I think that's what we are talking about on the cusp here in D.C. today, how can we make it matter."
The time he spent back in Uvalde was life-changing for the Oscar-winner, who told Baier that both he and his wife are "different" now.
"I'm a different man now. My wife's a different woman now. My children, I believe, are different children now," he said. "And our hope is that we can come out of this, especially for my children, we come out of this valuing our own life, and valuing life more than we did before. And appreciate the things that we do have and the opportunities we have, in our life and to change things for the better."
While it's certainly not the only mass shooting in the nation or at a school, through his conversations with lawmakers, McConaughey said he's hearing that this time "it's different."
"The consensus word that I'm hearing and phrase is that this time is different, that there is some more momentum, that, on the right, there are some things that they're willing not staunchly say no to and consider, that, on the left, they're willing to say, you know what, we may want the whole loaf, but we will take a slice of bread," McConaughey shared,
He continued, "So, I'm told that this is a novel thing happening right now and this is a novel and special time happening right now, where, actually, something may change, instead of just talking about it, and nothing changes again for another 30 years."
During his speech at the White House Tuesday, McConaughey not only urged lawmakers to make a change but laid out a plan of his own, calling for universal background checks, raising the minimum age for purchasing an AR-15 to 21, a waiting period for purchasing AR-15s and the implementation of red flag laws.
"These are reasonable, practical, tactical regulations to our nation, states, communities, schools and homes. Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals. These regulations are not a step back -- they're a step forward for a civil society and, and the Second Amendment," he said during the briefing.
He also stressed the need for better mental health care, citing that as the root for many of the shootings that have taken place.
That's the root of the problem, is the mentally ill people that are committing the crimes," McConaughey maintained. "We fix people, we're probably not having this conversation, and we're not up here for the reason we're up here."
He continued, "We're not going to fix people. That's going to be a lifetime job after we're here and after we're gone for our kids and their kids after. I do think there are some things we can do to keep the guns out of the bad guys' hands, make it harder for them to get them."
McConaughey's trip to D.C. comes just one day after The Austin American-Statesman published an op-ed written by the actor, in which he addressed the deadly Robb Elementary School shooting that took place on May 24 and what should be done in its wake.
"I want to be clear. I am not under the illusion that these policies will solve all of our problems, but if responsible solutions can stop some of these tragedies from striking another community without destroying the Second Amendment, they're worth it," he stressed in the piece. "This is not a choice between guns or no guns. It’s the responsible choice. It’s the reasonable choice. It’s a quintessentially American choice: Where I have the right to be me, you have the freedom to be you, and we have the responsibility to be US."
McConaughey and Alves have also since announced the launch of the just keep livin Foundation's Uvalde Relief Fund. Donations to the fund will support immediate and long-term needs of the community, including burial costs.
See more on McConaughey's trip to the White House in the video below.
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