Matthew McConaughey Revives Texas Political Ambitions After Aug. 5 Meeting With Pope Leo XIV
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 18
Matthew McConaughey Revives Texas Political Ambitions After Aug. 5 Meeting With Pope Leo XIV
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 18
Summary
McConaughey said his early-August Vatican meeting with Pope Leo XIV rekindled his interest in public office, saying he may want to help shape a values-based civic “constitution” shared across religions.
The Oscar-winning actor, who weighed a Texas governor run in 2021, said he remains a political centrist and argued religious teachings should inform political values while church and state stay separate.
He said he went into the conversation wanting to discuss religion’s role as a moral compass, why youth are returning to faith, and what that search for structure says about modern life.
AI was another focus: McConaughey warned some people already treat it like a “digital God,” while saying the technology offers major upside if humans control it rather than the reverse.
The comments extend McConaughey’s public policy profile beyond his 2022 bipartisan gun-safety advocacy after the Uvalde school shooting, keeping open the prospect of a future Texas campaign.