Andrew Yang: ‘Speculation has officially been stoked’ about McConaughey running for office

Andrew Yang, the co-founder of the Forward Party who ran for Oval Office in 2020, said speculations about actor Matthew McConaughey running for office in 2028 have intensified.

“Well, I wouldn’t be alone. I’ll tell you that. I mean, the speculation has officially been stoked,” Yang told NewsNation’s Blake Burman, when asked if he would want to see McConaughey launch a bid.

The “Interstellar” star posted a video to social media earlier this month pressing voters to think more about independent candidates. He said supporting independents could bring lawmakers “back to the middle, where most American values live.”

Yang, who appeared on “The Hill” late Tuesday, said, “You don’t put out that kind of video if you’re not thinking about it.”

In his video, McConaughey added that he is endorsing two things: “Fairness and reality.”

“The No. 1 political identity in America today is not Republican. It is not Democrat. It is independent,” McConaughey said.

“So independents belong in the fight — not as a protest, not as a spoiler — but as a real and potential winner, on the ballot and considered seriously by us,” he continued.

A 2025 Gallup poll showed that 45 percent of U.S. adults identified with independent politics, while 27 percent identified as Democrats and another 27 percent identified as Republicans. The poll also indicated a higher percentage of Generation Z adults and millennials identified as political independents.

McConaughey’s independent agenda was supported by Texas’s Democratic Senate candidate, James Talarico, who told TMZ DC that if the actor feels strongly about it, he should step up and run for office.

“I think he’d be a great candidate,” Talarico added.

When asked why he is running for Congress, the Democrat said it is “because of this two-party system, it’s near impossible to be able to get elected as an independent candidate.”