Parks and Rec star blasts 'dumb' fans who claim his character would've voted for Trump

A former star of Parks and Recreation has hit back at "dumb people" on the internet who are convinced his character from the popular NBC TV show would have voted for President Donald Trump.

Nick Offerman clapped back at fans who claim his Libertarian character, Ron Swanson, would have voted for the GOP leader during a Friday interview with IndieWire to promote his new film, Sovereign.

The publication asked the Hollywood actor about his conservative character being misused in political memes and clips that might "contradict" the character's actual beliefs.

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"Ron Swanson, a wonderful creation from much more brilliant minds than my own, people hold up for the wrong reasons, and take their own reading of this true Libertarian who was cool with everybody," Offerman explained.

He continued, "And they somehow say, 'Well, he had a shotgun, so he must be one of us.' Like, dumb people insist that Ron Swanson would've voted for Trump."

Offerman portrayed Ron on Parks and Recreation for seven seasons from 2009 to 2015. He later played a fictional president in the 2024 movie Civil War, a role some critics compared to Trump.

The actor revealed that he consulted with Parks and Recreation co-creator Michael Schur to confirm that his character would not have backed Trump.

"I take it to Mike Schur, the main creator of Ron, and he said, 'Swanson would've despised Trump, because Ron loved capitalism. And Trump made the stupidest move you could make as a capitalist, which is to go into public service,'" he shared.

"He would think he's an absolute idiot. He would also despise him because he's disrespectful to women and many others. And that's just an example of all the people and value sets that Ron would despise, because Ron is a good person."

In June, Offerman directly addressed a video posted by Michael Flynn Jr. , featuring Swanson tossing a computer into a dumpster.

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However, in Flynn Jr. 's version, the computer was replaced with a Pride flag.

"Good morning and Happy Sunday! No quotes today. Just wanted to post how I feel about 'pride' month," Flynn Jr. penned. "Ron was the best man at a gay wedding, you dumb f---. #HappyPride," Offerman retorted.

Offerman was referencing the season finale of Parks and Recreation, where Swanson played the role of best man at his gay hairdresser, Typhoon's wedding.

IndieWire posed a question to Offerman about his ability to balance being open about his political beliefs while working across a wide range of roles.

They asked, "Does it become difficult to assess when the time is right for you to speak out about something?"

Offerman responded, "Social media used to be a lot of fun. I mean, I met one of the greatest friends of my life, James Rebanks and his family, and we own a beef herd together in England. And now, basically since Trump arrived, and the MAGA sensibility, where people use social media to troll and for violence of many colors, I feel like it's an exercise in futility."

The actor conveyed his strategy for sharing beliefs, saying, "I feel like if I'm loud on social media, it's preaching to the choir. So I'm going to continue to fill my work with my ideology, either overtly or indirectly, like playing a MAGA plumber in 'Origin' or whatever."

Further explaining his stance on public commentary, he added, "I do very much curb myself, and I generally will only get loud on social media, [like] in the case of that thing recently with Michael Flynn Jr., where it was using my image and my character for hate."

Determined to respond to misuse of his identity, he stated, "I'm going to say something about that. But even that, it's just dumb, because a troll like that guy, that's all he wants to do is use my platform to create clickbait and get more people signed on to take his supplements."