Clint Eastwood Backs a Dem for President

Clint Eastwood's wide-ranging chat with the Wall Street Journal touches on his films, his politics, and playing golf with Donald Trump—but his line about Mike Bloomberg is making the biggest splash. "The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there," he says of the Democratic presidential candidate. While he likes "certain things that Trump's done," Eastwood wants him to behave "in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names. I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level." Among his other quotes:

• Golf outing: Eastwood recalls playing golf "many years ago" with Donald Trump and casino billionaire Steve Wynn—two men who each criticized the other when he was out of earshot. "I don't know how much tongue-in-cheek was in all of that, but it was very amusing for me, the lone guy," says the 89-year-old.

• His politics: "I was a Republican, but people never thought about their parties except at the national level," he says of his time as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. in the late 1980s. He calls himself a libertarian who is in "a state of evolution" and "willing to learn constantly."
• Gran Torino: He liked his movie Gran Torino because "it's about a guy who’s a racist, a hard-ass. He didn't like minorities much, of any kind. But he learns to appreciate people that he really hated."
• #MeToo: "The #MeToo generation has its points," he says, adding that women "are standing up against people who are trying to shake you down for sexual favors."
• Richard Jewell: He admits to taking cinematic license in the film, but blames the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a "reckless story" that persecuted an innocent man and, he claims, led to his death. Does he want the paper to sue Warner Bros. over the movie? "Make my day!" he says. (Lawyers have gotten involved.)
• America's enemies: He cites Letters From Iwo Jima as a favorite among his movies—but would he make one about America's current enemies in the Middle East? "It may be too fresh to do that. ... I don't think we know enough about al-Qaeda and ISIS."

(Click for the full article. Or see what critics said about Richard Jewell.)