(NewsNation) — Following actor Matthew McConaughey’s emotional plea for gun reform at a White House media briefing Tuesday, a politics reporter explained why his voice is more effective for change during this time.
“When a politician speaks on these issues, it comes across hollow,” explained Heather Gardner, a politics television host and producer, during a Tuesday appearance on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert.”
“It doesn’t come across the same as a person who is from this town — who actually spent days within the last week with these families, which Matthew McConaughey said he did,” she continued.
Gardner’s comments was a rebuttal to Vittert’s commentary, which suggested the accomplished actor was a surrogate, of sorts, for Biden in his appeal for gun reform.
Vittert further argues that the talking points McConaughey brought up during the presser — asking Congress for background checks, raising the minimum age for purchasing weapons and red flag laws — are futile, not realistic and not really a compromise, given where Republicans stand on the issue.
“You’ve got Nancy Pelosi pushing through a bill that even moderate Democrats in her caucus won’t vote for and they’re doing it to try and force Republicans into a vote,” Vittert says.
But Gardner maintains that bringing in a movie star is the type of different approach to the issue that’s needed and that the Democrats are making happen.
“I listened to Biden’s speech a few days ago — I was moved, sure. I listened to McConaughey’s speech today and I was in tears. It’s a different mindset. It’s a different plea,” she said.
Watch the back-and-forth in the video above.