Andrew Yang: Matthew McConaughey as President Can 'Get Us Out of This Mess'

Former Democrat presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is weighing in on who he hopes will run for president in 2024 and his first pick is Matthew McConaughey.

Yang made the statement while candidly discussing the political state of the country and both its parties with comedian Shane Gillis for the Monday edition of his podcast "Forward."

"You have the Democratic Party establishment who are like, Hey, you gotta play by these rules. Like, we're gonna act a certain way. We're like buttoned up. And we have a certain way of presenting — by the way I ran for president in this crew," Yang said. "Then you have the Republican Party under Trump, that's become this anti-institutional, f*** everything, burn it down, kind of energy," he continued, adding that "there has to be a kind of this positive ex-institutional energy that comes up and ends up being like this third force in American politics."

As part of his plan, the perfect "ex-institutional" candidate, would be McConaughey.

"My paragon example of this is someone like Matthew McConaughey. Like, so McConaughey is from outside the institutions, but he's not an a**hole, like, uh, in the same way [former President Donald] Trump is. So I look at someone like that and think God, like, that's the kind of figure that we need to get us out of this mess," Yang said.

"I can't believe that's where we're at," Gillis replied. "Imagine, as a country … 10 years ago, 'Hopefully Matthew McConaughey can get us out of this mess.' "

Yang did not miss a beat while he continued to highlight his theoretical political plan.

"So you can fill in figures for Matthew McConaughey," he said. "Mark Cuban's in this category. The Rock is in this category. Some would say Oprah [Winfrey]."

There has long been speculation as to whether McConaughey would pursue a political career. The actor has teased the possibility on several occasions, previously hinting that he may run for the position of governor of his home state, Texas. Last year he opted against challenging Gov. Greg Abbott for the seat but did not dismiss a future run either.

"I'm not going to say no forever — absolutely not," he said during an appearance on "Today" in December. "But this last year and a half, just considering that sacred position of running for governor of the state of Texas, [it was a] very conscientious and earnest year and a process I'm so happy I went through it."

McConaughey explained that he made the decision after becoming "very aware" of what mattered to him and what he thought was best for him as well as the "most amount of people at the same time."

"So I'm never going to say never. Politics is a sacred spot that I have great honor for," he said.

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