Actor Chris Evans, probably best known for playing Captain America in the Avengers franchise, is also a huge Tom Brady super fan, and a very vocal critic of President Trump on Twitter.
Like a lot of sports fans, Evans, a Boston native, has been wrestling with what to do when your favorite athlete may not share the same political beliefs. While Evans is consistently using his visibility to shred the President’s polices, Brady’s been known to hang a MAGA hat in his locker.
What’s a lefty liberal to do then, when his NFL crush, at best, refuses to comment publicly about the President and, at worst, could be a full-fledged supporter?
Stay true to his beliefs apparently. In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Evans opened up about wrestling with what to do when your fav is problematic.
“I really hope he’s not a Trump supporter. I’m just hoping he’s one of those guys that maybe supported him and now regrets it. Maybe he thought it was going to be different — and even that bothers me — but maybe there’s a chance now he just thinks Trump’s an absolute dumb [expletive], which he is. If he doesn’t, if he’s still on that Trump train, I might have to cut ties. It’s really tough.”
Honestly, it is really tough. These are not normal times we live in, with social and political norms are being upended everyday. It might have been easy in the past to write off politics as just politics, but the controversial polices of this current administration have turned previously neutral ground into another ideological battlefield.
Being able to separate politics from sports (see: White House visits, social justice protests) is a privilege that many people don’t have and at some point, actions have to line up with beliefs.
“I think maybe a couple of years ago,” he told the Hollywood Reporter, “I might have tried to pull some, like, mental gymnastics to compartmentalize, but I don’t know if I can anymore. So I’m just hoping he’s woken up.”
