Part of Matthew McConaughey's charm has always been his eccentric take on things. But the Oscar-winning actor's recent take on the current state of America was a bit too Vintage McConaughey for the hosts of CNN's morning show New Day.
After McConaughey, who is said to be considering a gubernatorial run in his home state of Texas, released a deeply bizarre video on July 4th in which he described this dark time as America "going through puberty," CNN's hosts had all they could take.
They roasted the actor for his weird analogy, and the internet can't stop laughing along with them.
.@smerconish on Matthew McConaughey's July 4 message: "You're popular up until the point when you formally decide to get in the race, and then all of a sudden your numbers change ... Secondly, puberty, nah. I think it's midlife crisis, and let's all buy the Porsche and move on."pic.twitter.com/YJOYeW3iIf— New Day (@New Day) 1625571530
In his video, in which the potential future governor of Texas addressed the camera from behind a pair of vintage 1970s sunglasses, McConaughey called the past year "another head-scratcher," but urged viewers to remember that America is still a young country finding its way.
happy 245th birthday America - lets rockpic.twitter.com/MiLKZ0HN8y— Matthew McConaughey (@Matthew McConaughey) 1625432522
McConaughey said:
"Let's also remember that we are babies... As a country, we're basically going through puberty in comparison to other countries' timelines."
In fairness, McConaughey's not exactly wrong about how young America is.
He went on to elaborate upon it in a way that acknowledged the difficult road ahead in a hopeful way.
"This is not an excuse, this is just the reality... we gotta keep learning, we gotta keep maturing, we gotta keep striving, we gotta keep climbing, we gotta keep building."
But for CNN's John Berman—like many viewers, surely—McConaughey's meaning just didn't translate.
He couldn't help but question his weird choice of metaphors.
"Okay A, time is a flat circle. B, apparently America's body is changing? And having uncomfortable thoughts?"
Co-anchor Michael Smerconish couldn't agree more, and proposed an alternate analogy.
"...puberty, nah. I think it's midlife crisis, and let's all buy the Porsche and move on."
And judging from the response to McConaughey's video, a lot of Twitter agrees with the New Day team.
heavy David Koresh vibes here— Ernest C. Smitten (@Ernest C. Smitten) 1625437748
Very cool that someone bought America a Cameo video from McConaugheyhttps://twitter.com/McConaughey/status/1411792440411889664\u00a0\u2026— Marcus \u201c4.0\u201d Gilmer (@Marcus \u201c4.0\u201d Gilmer) 1625432603
Matthew McConaughey is bringing next-level drug kingpin energy on America\u2019s birthday and I, for one, am here for it.pic.twitter.com/gzsuK111YV— laney (@laney) 1625435330
Matthew McConaughey looks like he\u2019s preparing for his new role in Uncut Gems 2.pic.twitter.com/LnqYJ0Dyxk— Jenny Johnson (@Jenny Johnson) 1625446235
Fam he looks like he pushes booger sugar in the 80shttps://twitter.com/McConaughey/status/1411792440411889664\u00a0\u2026— Nicky Bizzle (@Nicky Bizzle) 1625487973
10/10 Jim Jones cosplayhttps://twitter.com/McConaughey/status/1411792440411889664\u00a0\u2026— Dyldog (@Dyldog) 1625555896
more and more people are adopting the just keep livin mindsethttps://twitter.com/McConaughey/status/1411792440411889664\u00a0\u2026— nick (@nick) 1625534417
Weird video aside, McConaughey is actually doing fairly well in the Texas polls, lagging incumbent governor Greg Abbott by just one point.
The next closest competitor, former Senate and Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, trails by 12.
