Vince Vaughn Talks Politics With Adam Carolla [Listen]

Actor Vince Vaughn described himself as politically conservative in a podcast interview with Adam Carolla.

In response to Carolla’s question as to whether he considered himself conservative on the issues, the libertarian-leaning Ron Paul supporter admitted that “I do, yeah. I mean, I’m very supportive of Ron Paul, but I’ve always been, you know, more conservative than not.” Part of this comes from the example set by his dad’s strong work ethic, he noted.

There has been much written about how publicly opposing the Democrat Party agenda in overwhelmingly liberal Hollywood is a career-killer for those in the entertainment industry. Actor James Woods, for example, believes he may not get any further gigs in the movies because of his outspoken Obama criticism. Some others have been vocal in going against the tide, however. For example, SNL alum Dennis Miller has increasing been moving in the libertarian/conservative direction since the 9/11 attacks. Separately, fellow SNL alum Rob “Duece Bigalow” Schneider, a lifelong Democrat, recently announced that he was “horrified by what’s happening in this State with the Democrat supermajority now in the legislature in California. The Democrats in my party have abandoned me, and so I have abandoned them.”

In the Vince Vaughn interview, Carolla similarly noted that while he’s liberal on social issues, economics is something else, given his belief in the importance of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. “I’m not conservative, but I’ve been made conservative by the direction that the country’s been going,” he declared.

In explaining his political philosophy, Vince Vaughn, 43, explained that it primarily centers on personal freedom and liberty. “I think that what you come, as you get older, you just get less trust in the government running anything. And that you start to realize when you really go back and look at the Constitution and the principles of liberty, the real purpose of government is to protect the individual’s right to sort of think and pursue what they have interest in.

Added the Wedding Crashers star: “And that when you start drawing the lines, saying, as a society, we think this is inappropriate, we’re going to pass laws to protect them from themselves and or take things away to protect themselves or move money from here to there, that you realize that you wake up with corruption and without the unintended consequences you’ll wake up with a lot of problems that didn’t exist prior.”

When Carolla asked Vaughn if his views created any problems with the Hollywood crowd, Vaughn observed that when politics does come up in the conversation, it’s just a matter of agreeing to disagree. “I think most people, who have gotten to know me, and talked to me about stuff … I think there can be sort of a bias against people who don’t agree with what’s popular. But I think when you talk to people, and present it over time, they kind of understand where I stand. And I can disagree with people but not have it be at the forefront of all conversations.”

Vince Vaughn is currently starring in Delivery Man.

[thumbnail image credit: Gage Skidmore]