by Gary Sinise opens up about his political views in a new interview.
During an appearance on Who is talking to Chris Wallace? airing on HBO Max and CNN this weekend, the former CSI: New York star explained what it’s like to have more conservative views in the entertainment industry.
Wallace noted that Sinise, who rose to fame in films such as Forrest Gump And Apollo 13he is “one of the relatively few conservatives in Hollywood,” adding that he helped found a group of people in Hollywood with similar political beliefs called the Friends of Abe, a reference to President Abraham Lincoln.
“Do conservatives in the entertainment industry need a support group?” Wallace asked Sinise, noting that the actor has contributed to politicians like John McCain and Mitt Romney over the years.
Sinise laughed in response, noting that the organization’s creation occurred during the early days of the Iraq war.
“I think so much of it was motivated by what happened to our Vietnam Vets and the lack of support they received and how they were treated, and then we regretted it afterwards,” Sinise shared. “I didn’t want our Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to fall prey to things like that. I just wanted to get in there and support them. So I started looking for people who were just in the same field as me on that topic. And I found other people in the film and television world who enjoyed being around each other.”
During the conversation, Sinise also expressed his support for the right to bear arms. Wallace asked the actor if, as a “big believer in the Second Amendment and the right to bear guns under the Constitution,” he had any ideas that there should be more gun control restrictions on semi-automatic firearms and cartridge magazines. high capacity. .
“Yeah, I’m not the type to know exactly what to do about all of this. The only thing I know is you can’t get rid of the guns,” replied Sinise, one of the founders of Steppenwolf Theater Company, which was started in Highland Park, Illinois, the same city where a July 4th mass shooting occurred during an Independence Day parade. Sinise shared that as a child, he lived just three blocks from where the shooting occurred and marched in the parade in the early days of Steppenwolf. But he said the issue of gun violence is “a complicated situation” that he doesn’t believe can be easily resolved.
“You know, I told Larry King,” the Forrest Gump star added. “He asked me once. And I said, ‘Well… what do we propose? Because guns are here to stay. They’ve always been a part of American history.’ So what do we do now that we seem to have this easy access to guns when we shouldn’t? Or people who have guns who shouldn’t have them?”
Sinise went on to say that “we need more solutions. Clearly, there isn’t one solution to this awful problem we have.”
Wallace went on to ask Sinise if she thought she could have a “broader career in the conventional Hollywood sense” if she chose to focus solely on acting, versus all the time she spends working to support veterans.
Noting that he’s had “great opportunities” in Hollywood, Sinise said he “can’t complain about my acting career.” Additionally, the recognition he has gained from his decades-long career is a “key building block” in providing the international platform to carry out his service work, which includes performing over 500 shows for military members as part of the Lieutenant Dan Band – a nod to his Oscar-nominated role, as well as building smart homes for seriously injured military officers and their families as part of the Gary Sinise Foundation.
