The film star said 20 years ago she’d have laughed at a White House run – but now she’ll “go where I’m needed.
The film star said 20 years ago she’d have laughed at a White House run – but now she’ll “go where I’m needed”
Angelina Jolie today hinted she could run for US President.
The Oscar-winner and campaigner dropped the heavy suggestion as Democrat hopefuls prepare to unveil themselves throughout 2019.
The Tomb Raider star was asked by BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m not necessarily getting you to run for president on the programme but are you moving in a direction of politics?”
She replied: “You know, honestly, if you asked me 20 years ago I would have laughed.
“I really don’t know. I always say I’ll go where I’m needed. I don’t know if I’m fit for politics.”
In an apparent reference to her split from Brad Pitt she added: “But then I’ve also joked I don’t know if I have a skeleton left in my closet. So I’m pretty open and out there.
“I can take a lot on the chin so that’s good. But I honestly will do whatever I think can really make change.”
The next US Presidential election will be held in November 2020 and Republican Donald Trump is expected to run again.
But currently there is a wide open field for hopefuls to take the Democratic nomination – which in 2016 was seized by Hillary Clinton.
Socialist Bernie Sanders, who Ms Clinton beat to the nomination in 2016, and former Vice President Joe Biden are among those expressing interest.
The US has a history of film and TV stars taking office, from Ronald Reagan to Apprentice star President Trump.
Tomb Raider star Ms Jolie last night said she hoped to “bring people together” during a turn as a guest editor on Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Hollywood actress, 43, took the reins of the BBC show this morning.
The mother-of-six and campaigner said: “For me the biggest challenge I have had in my work is trying to understand how all the pieces come together.
“And with the state of the world we are all living in, with so much instability and the numbers rising on refugees, we’re at 68 million people displaced, and with all the many, many things your audience is aware of, how do we get to the core of what is happening and who are the different people that are offering solutions”.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was set to talk about the government’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI).
US General Curtis Scaparrotti, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet were also due to feature.
Veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby, who this month stepped down as the host of Question Time after 25 years, was the first of this year’s guest editors.
Blogger Chidera Eggerue, also known as the Slumflower and historian Andrew Roberts are among the guests to follow after Jolie.
Previous guest editors over the years have included Prince Harry, Sir Lenny Henry and Sir Richard Branson.
–
mirror.co.uk
