Matthew McConaughey swiftly shuts down Joy Behar’s anti-gun question on The View

On The View, Matthew McConaughey and Joy Behar got into a heated argument when the co-host questioned the actor’s “anti-gun” stance.

The 53-year-old native of Texas appeared on the US chat show on Tuesday, September 12, to promote his first children’s book, Just Because.

Co-host Sunny Hostin shifted gears after talking about the significance of the book to McConaughey as a father of three and praised him for being “so outspoken against violence, and gun violence in particular”.

You thought about running for Texas governor in 2021, but ultimately decided to put your family first. Do you believe holding public office will be in your future? Hostin enquired.

“Yes, if that’s where I think I can be most useful,” the Interstellar actor answered. “At this time, I want to be the most helpful father I can be.”

Behar followed up with another query: “Do you think you could get elected in Texas as an anti-gun person?”

Pointing a finger at Behar, McConaughey shot back, “One thing about me and politics is me playing a game I’m not interested in playing right there.”

“All right, don’t do that,” Behar said.

Joy Behar and Matthew McConaughey on ‘The View’ (The View / YouTube)

Following the tragic mass shooting that occurred in June 2022 at an elementary school in McConaughey’s own Uvalde, Texas, the actor implored his fellow citizens to “renegotiate our wants from our needs”.

At the time, he posted on Instagram, saying, “We have to rearrange our values and find common ground above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children’s issue.” Regardless of our political stance, we can all agree that we can control this scourge and do better. We have to perform better.

Since then, McConaughey and his spouse Camila Alves have started the Greenlights Grant Initiative, which on its website states that its goals are to “ensure continuous and more equitable federal funding for school safety,” “raise awareness about school safety grants,” and “equip school districts with resources and tools for successful applications.”

The idea for Just Because, a compilation of “life lessons that empowers readers, big and small, to celebrate how we are all full of possibility,” came to the actor, according to his children.