Kerry Washington appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday to discuss the upcoming presidential election. Like many of us, Washington didn’t hold back in expressing her doubts about a Donald Trump presidency.
Maher began by congratulating the Scandal star on her second child but quickly transitioned to politics, asking Washington, “Does it focus the mind, you think, with what’s going on with the nation when you know a little child of yours will be dealing with the repercussions of whoever becomes president?”
Washington, who has been vocal about her support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, responded, “I’ve always been a very political person, and mostly, not because I’m in the public eye but because I’m an American and I think we have a right and a responsibility to participate in our democracy. So, having a child might open up my mind to the issues like this ridiculous maternity leave that Trump talked about recently.”
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Washington called Trump’s newly-announced Child Care and Maternity Leave policy “insulting to families and workers because there’s no paternity leave, there’s no family leave.” On the issue of what Maher described as “enthusiasm gap” for Clinton amongst Black and Hispanic voters, Washington said, “I think we if we really look at policy, voting for Trump is voting against our best interest as Americans; as workers, as people of color, as women. Not voting is voting against ourselves.”
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Citing Clinton’s first campaign speech on criminal justice reform, Washington said, “When young people of color say she’s not doing enough, you have to do the work to dig because the media is not spoon feeding us the information we need to vote in our best interest.
“I want to vote for the candidate who is willing to address mistakes, address issues, take responsibility, be accountable, be a part of the change solution.”