Actress Stacey Dash achieved entertainment fame with Clueless, the 1995 comedy movie phenomenon in which she played Dionne Davenport. Dash has just published a lively new memoir called There Goes My Social Life, a line from Clueless.
But her political life took off much later, in 2012, when she enthusiastically backed Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, which prompted a feverish backlash in Hollywood circles.
Dash is now a panelist on the Fox News talk show Outnumbered, and it turns out her political ambitions extend way beyond getting Donald Trump into the White House. Below we talk with Dash about being a conservative in Hollywood. In Part 2 of the interview, which will be published Friday, Dash talks about her acting career and discusses Clueless, Mark Wahlberg and Spike Lee.
You publicly became a Republican in 2012. What prompted your political awakening?
I had never voted before I voted for Obama the first time [in 2008] so I was not politically inclined at all. I voted for Obama because I got ‘blacked’ into it. I think a lot of us did.
What do you mean by ‘blacked’ into it’?
I wanted a black president. I thought, ‘Yes! A black president of the United States of America. It will no longer be about race anymore. Racism is gone. He will unite us in a very profound way.’ What he did was the exact opposite. He divided us more than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, which is very sad to me.
President Obama increasingly likes to spend time in the company of Hollywood actors. Why is that?
They’re famous and he gets to be cool with the famous people. He loves the Hollywood clan… he’s so solipsistic he wants the world to know ‘I can even be part of Hollywood.’
Do you have people contacting you now saying, ‘I wish I could do what you did and openly be conservative?’
Yes. I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? Get a backbone and stand up for what you believe in.’ If more of us did it, then the liberals wouldn’t be like the mafia of Hollywood. We don’t even know the ratio is of conservatives to liberals because conservatives just won’t come out. We could be more than them but we don’t know that. So we have liberal elites dictating the culture of the entire country because Hollywood does that and we all know it.
So you would like to see greater party political parity among actors?
That is my goal. That’s why I wrote the book. My goal is to change Hollywood back to Ronald Reagan’s Hollywood. How can I do that? By getting more Republicans to stand up and say, ‘I am a Republican and I am an actor or a producer or a writer,’ and getting more Republicans to fund and develop films. Put your money where your mouth is!
The backlash following your comments that you wanted Black History Week to end was interesting since in your own career you’ve worked with so many women and black directors?
I didn’t understand that. What I was saying is that African-Americans have contributed more to American history than just one month’s worth of information. It should be a part of the history curriculum 365 days of every year. When people pushed back on me on that, I thought what’s wrong with you? Don’t you think you deserve to be treated like everyone else? Do you want to be segregated or do you want to be integrated? I want to be integrated and for everybody to be human. I want to be colorblind.
That’s the message of Hamilton on Broadway? Have you seen it?
No I haven’t but I hear it’s amazing. I think that was a wonderful, risky thing and I honor them.
What do you think of Donald Trump?
I love him. He’s my candidate.
How conservative is he?
He’s conservative and wants America great again. He wants all the things conservatives want.
People have made a big deal out of Trump’s unwillingness to apologize, but I’m ready for a little more of that. https://t.co/fkGZTWoUrV
— Stacey Dash (@REALStaceyDash) June 6, 2016
Are you connected to the [Hollywood conservative networking group] Friends of Abe?
It’s a secret society. I can’t talk about it.
Why is it so secret?
Because they are afraid. They won’t get a backbone. “Stand up for what you believe in!” But they won’t. There are thousands of them who meet. You talk, it’s a way to be with people who are like-minded. In Hollywood it’s difficult, but you think, ‘Why is it only a select few of us who are speaking out?’ Why are we blacklisted because we stand up for what we believe in?”
You could argue that if people were afraid of speaking out, America would still be a British colony.
That’s what going to end up happening again, I’m afraid, if things don’t go right. There will probably be a revolution. It’s scary, it’s terrifying that we’ve got a Socialist, and a murdering liar running for president.
By ‘murdering liar,’ you are referring to Hillary Clinton?
Yes, of course. You’ve named it. Then we’ve got this man who is wonderful, a great businessman, he knows how to make money, has the right relationships , doesn’t take any crap, knows how to talk to people and make good deals and has the Rolodex to get to the people around the world who make the decisions. Why would we not vote for this man?
Where do you stand on his comments about forcing Mexico to build a wall?
I think he’s right. It’s an issue that people have been trying to deal with for decades. He’s finally saying, ‘I’m going to do it—illegal immigrants get out and come back in legally.’ He’s not saying, ‘I hate Mexicans.’ I have an English best friend who got stopped at the airport and deported because she overstayed her visa and had to stay in a cell overnight. It’s not just Mexicans, it’s anyone!
You think that the wall will help Mexicans?
Yes, it will. It will give them a better chance to have higher-paid jobs and a better education.
“It’s scary we’ve got a murdering liar running for President”
Will you be going to the Republican Convention?
Yes. I’m part of Women For Trump.
You saw the New York Times’ recent long piece about Trump’s treatment of women, that accused him of “unwelcome advances,” and “unsettling workplace conduct over decades”?
They won’t ask all the women who love him. They won’t talk to us.
What is it like being a panelist on Outnumbered? Do you ever have days where you wake up not wanting to discuss the state of the world today?
On some of the topics, it’s hard. It’s a challenge for me because it’s a whole different side of my brain, but I do enjoy it. I have got to the point where I’m done talking and I wanna start doing. I wanna start making actual change. I have a minority outreach program for Trump, for the Republicans, so they can get the minority vote. It will work. I’ve got Dr. Ben Carson on my side, Col. Allen West, Herman Cain. I’ve got pretty big minorities wanting to get on the ground with me and help me make this work.
The statistics are staggering when it comes to minorities backing Democrats in presidential elections?
Yet they stay in the same place so you wonder why they keep doing the same thing again and again. Why don’t they try something different that will really help them? They’re like sheep, they just follow. They don’t think. That’s why I wrote the book.
Maybe you need new reps @REALStaceyDash to revive your acting career
so you don’t have to continue selling your soul for a dollar #RealTalk— The Turtons (@TheTurtonsTV) June 8, 2016
You were recently quoted as telling Entertainment Tonight that transgender people should pee in the bushes but you later insisted you were joking.
Not only that. They cut out the question she had asked me! We talked about transgenders in the bathrooms and she says—and they cut this out—’What if they don’t know what they are that day?’ I thought, ‘What the fuck? I don’t know! If you don’t know who you are, go in the bushes.’ I should have just not said anything because it was a stupid question but that’s not what I thought.
You’ve previously referenced becoming president. Were you joking?
I’m serious. That’s the ultimate goal. I know it’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of studying. I know I could do it. I know I would be a great president.
What about the hassle you would encounter on a daily basis?
I put up with it now.
Do you think Donald Trump is electable?
Yes. I’ve been to rallies. He fills football stadiums and then there are lines outside. He’s wonderful and I’ve met him and shook his hand. He’s lovely, down-to-earth, genuine and caring. He does care. He really does want to make America great for everyone.
You write in the book about receiving a supportive call from Paul Ryan after you received heat for backing Mitt Romney in 2012. Now Ryan is backing Trump.
Now everyone’s doubling down behind Trump and I’m glad.
It’s actually crazy how fine Stacey Dash was in Mo’ Money pic.twitter.com/nUwzEzj3fa
— ♕ CHEY⁶ ♕ (@SochittaChey) November 14, 2015
When you were filming Mo Money and Clueless in the ’90s, did you think much about politics?
No. I didn’t think about it at all. I didn’t think about race or any of those things. I was living my life and taking care of my son. I was being a hustler.
Who are your political icons?
Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. William F. Buckley—have you ever seen the debate between him and James Baldwin at Cambridge? It’s amazing.
How Can Trump Beat Clinton?
He has to get the minority vote. He will. That’s where I come in.
Vote for Romney. The only choice for your future. @mittromney @teamromney #mittromney #VOTE #voteromney pic.twitter.com/9HFUhWul
— Stacey Dash (@REALStaceyDash) October 7, 2012