Jennifer Lawrence Once Said Donald Trump Becoming President Made Her More Political

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 22, 2023. It has since been updated.

Jennifer Lawrence, who was raised in a conservative household in Louisville, Kentucky, had always identified as a Republican. But almost like sports or TV, it was a cultural phenomenon for her at the time. She believed there were two teams, and she considered the Republicans to be her team.

In an interview with Vanity Fair back in 2018, the Hunger Games franchise actress opened up about how everything changed for her after Donald Trump took office. “I’ve always thought that it was a good idea to stay out of politics,” Lawrence explained. “Twenty-five percent of America identifies as liberal and I need more than 25 percent of America to go see my movies. It’s not wise, career-speaking, to talk about politics. When Donald Trump got sworn into office, that f**king changed.”

Lawrence became politically aware and isn't hiding her ideas any longer. “It did steamroll, thanks to my personality,” she admits. “If I’m thinking something, I’ve made it very clear I’m going to talk about it. My family obviously hates every time I talk about politics because it’s hard to see your kid get criticized and they live in Kentucky, where nobody is really liking what I’m saying.”

Now a board member at Represent.us, a bi-partisan anti-corruption organization, Lawrence splits her time between New York City and Los Angeles, but her time in the South has given her a unique cultural and political viewpoint. She has strong links to her hometown of Louisville and is acutely aware of the factors that contributed to Donald Trump's popularity among Americans. “Here’s a big powerful man in a nice suit, pointing at you and going, ‘I’m going to make you rich.’ It’s so appealing,” she says.

This is not the only time Lawrence has spoken about her views on Trump and the American political scene. The actress got candid about her political opinions when talking to Vogue in 2022, a time when the Roe v. Wade decision was also overturned. First, she stated that despite not fully supporting Hillary Clinton, she nevertheless found it quite sad that Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. “It breaks my heart because America had the choice between a woman and a dangerous, dangerous jar of mayonnaise. And they were like, Well, we can’t have a woman. Let’s go with the jar of mayonnaise.”

The actress also admitted she is frequently at odds with her family over her politics. She continued, “I don’t want to disparage my family, but I know that a lot of people are in a similar position with their families. How could you raise a daughter from birth and believe that she doesn’t deserve equality? How?” She also stated that the 2016 presidential election had affected her family as well, owing to the different political views they held.

She further mentioned, “I just worked so hard in the last five years to forgive my dad and my family and try to understand: It’s different. The information they are getting is different. Their life is different. I’ve tried to get over it and I really can’t. I can’t. I’m sorry I’m just unleashing, but I can’t fuck with people who aren’t political anymore. You live in the United States of America. You have to be political. It’s too dire. Politics are killing people.”