The actor, playing up both his political affiliation and his Hollywood past, worked up the crowd Thursday night at the Republican National Convention.
Clint Eastwood was promised as a speaker at the Republican National Convention, and he did not disappoint.
“You’re thinking: ‘What’s a movie tradesman doing out here?’ You think they’re all left wingers out there,” he said.
He began his speech, and continued the theme throughout, by speaking to an empty chair, a chair supposedly to be filled by President Obama. Although many seemed confused when he started staring at the chair, they finally understood when he made a comment and followed it with “What do you mean, shut up?” to the audience’s delight.
He continued staring at the chair and kept speaking, again, supposedly to the president.
“So Mr. President, how do you handle promises that you’ve made when you’re running for election?” he asked the chair. The actor was a hit with the crowd and got many laughs and much applause. The 82-year-old actor looked his age, though, and stumbled over his words many times.
“I just think there is so much to be done, and I think that Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan are two guys that can come along… ” he said before trailing off and changing the subject.
It may have been one of the only nonscripted speeches of the convention, and according to CBS News, it was the one speech so far the convention organizers probably didn’t have a say over. He continued his speech, still speaking to the chair/President Obama:
“And if you could step aside and let Mr. Romney take over… you can still use the plane,” he said. “Maybe smaller plane.”
“We own this country. And it’s not you owning it and not politicians owning it,” Eastwood continued. “Politicians are employees of ours. But I just think that it’s important that you realize that you are the best in the world. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or Libertarian, you are the best. And when someone does not do the job, we’ve got to let them go.”
Eastwood finished his speech by playing up his Hollywood side, after responding to an audience chant: “Go ahead, make my day.”
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