Josh Duhamel Says He Stays Away From Politics, but Remember When He Endorsed Governor Doug Burgum?
Actor Josh Duhamel in front of the Fargo Theatre as he shoots a tourism commercial on Sunday, August 16, 2015. Rick Abbott / The Forum
North Dakota’s own Josh Duhamel gave an interview ostensibly about his love of baseball, and selection as an ambassador for Major League Baseball’s All Star balloting, but he also had some comments about social media and why he steers clear of politics which were pretty interesting:
Fox News: You’ve described having a love/hate relationship with social media.
Duhamel: Social media helps people communicate. That’s just a part of [the] reality we’re living today. That’s how people get their news, that’s how people share news — back in the day you had to actually watch the news on television or read the paper. Now, everything is so instantaneous because of social media. I don’t like to share too much of my private life because to me it just doesn’t feel right. I do sometimes because I may think a moment is funny, cute or harmless. But it’s also an opportunity to do a lot of good. It really is.
You can give exposure to charities or events around the world that may not be getting the attention they need. And for me, social media is great for that. And it’s helped me tremendously to talk about things that I think need attention. I don’t necessary think it’s important to tell people how to vote. That’s one thing I don’t do. I don’t like to get involved politically at all. Nobody cares what I think politically. Anybody in entertainment who thinks people care what they think politically are really misinformed. That’s one thing I stay away from. I stay away from politics because nobody cares what I think.
Of course, Duhamel hasn’t entirely steered clear of politics. During last year’s election cycle he posted a picture of himself on Facebook casually wearing a t-shirt advertising Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Burgum’s campaign.
I don’t think that photo just happened. It was pretty clearly a calculated, if subtle, endorsement.
The key word there being subtle. Duhamel wasn’t explicitly telling people how to vote. He just made his allegiances known in a low-key way.
Which makes me wonder about Duhamel’s reticence to speak out on politics more forcefully. Is it really that he doesn’t think anyone cares what celebrities have to say (I’d agree that most of them have far less impact than they’d like to think)? Or is it because his politics are right-of-center and probably not all that welcome in the entertainment industry?
