Cynthia Nixon insists there isn’t anything "inherently wrong" with celebrities running for office.
The ‘Sex and the City’ actress is campaigning to be appointed New York governor and though she admits being famous has given her a "platform", she believes she’s qualified for the position because of the way she’s used her status to promote causes that matter to her.
She said: "I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with celebrity in politics.
"It gives you a platform, but it’s what you choose to do with that platform. Do you choose to give yourself and other one-percenters a massive tax break that they don’t need, or do you choose to advocate for important things that need your voice, like LGBTQ equality or women’s health or women’s rights – including a woman’s right to choose – or better public schools, which I have been advocating for and fighting for, for the better part of 20 years? I think that’s the kind of résumé a progressive leader of New York state should have right now."
The 52-year-old star – who has children Samantha, 21, and Charles, 15, with ex-husband Danny Mozes and Max, six, with wife Christine Marinoni – also insisted she isn’t anything like ‘Apprentice’ star-turned-US president Donald Trump.
Speaking to ‘The Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert, she argued: "I think that first and foremost, Donald Trump is a real estate developer and he has inherited his money and his company from his father. That could not be more different from me.
"I grew up here in a one-bedroom, five-flight walk-up with a single mom. I went to public school. I started acting when I was 12 in order to pay for my college because my family couldn’t afford to."
One of Cynthia’s policy goals is the legalisation of recreational marijuana use and though she admitted she has "smoked pot" in the past, she’s not tried the drug often.
She confessed: "I was an actor in the ’80s. It was a crazy time.
"And I think it’s important to let people know… that I’ve only smoked pot twice in my life. It’s so embarrassing."
Cynthia Nixon defends political celebrities
