Gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon has pushed back on comparisons to “celebrity” politician President Donald Trump, stating she could not be more different from the billionaire businessman.
The Sex And The City actress, who announced her run for New York governor back in March, said there was nothing wrong with a celebrity candidate in politics, provided they concentrated on the right things.
Speaking in an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, Nixon addressed a question about whether the U.S. needed “another celebrity in office” because “we’ve got one in the White House and that isn’t working out very well.”
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“I think that first and foremost Donald Trump is a real estate developer and he has inherited his money and his company from his father. That could not be more different from me,” she told Colbert.
“I grew up here in a one-bedroom five-flight walk-up with a single mom, I went to public school, I started acting when I was 12 in order to pay for college because my family couldn’t afford to. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with celebrity in politics because it gives you a platform,” Nixon said.
Taking a dig at the president, and outlining their differences, she added: “Do you choose to give yourself and other one-percenters a massive tax break they don’t need? Or do you choose to advocate for important things that need your voice like LGBTQ equality or women’s health or women’s rights, including a woman’s right to choose, or better public schools which I have been advocating for and fighting for the better part of 20 years.
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“I think that’s the kind of resume that a progressive leader of New York state should have right now,” she said, to applause from the audience.
Nixon, who is reported by The Cut as having more than a decade of experience as an activist, is running on issues including education, marijuana legalization and LGBTQ rights, and is hoping to unseat New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D).
This week, The Hill reported Nixon was beginning to gain on Cuomo, although The Siena College poll still puts her a way behind the incumbent.
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