Pastor Greg Laurie/YouTube; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
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Dennis Quaid shared his opinion about President Donald Trump during a Feb. 18 podcast appearance
Quaid also discussed his own political stance as "a common-sense independent," and recalled spending a weekend with a former president
"I think I lean more conservative in my head. But I'm just for common sense," said Quaid
Dennis Quaidis sharing his opinion of PresidentDonald Trump, along with his own political leanings.
The 71-year-old actor opened up about meeting both Trump, 79, and former PresidentBill Clintonwhile sitting down with Pastor Greg Laurie, a Southern California megachurch pastor and evangelist, for the Feb. 18 episode ofThe Greg Laurie Show.
When the topic of the president arose, Quaid — who does not shy away from discussing politics publicly — first agreed with host Laurie's own assessment that Trump is a "surprisingly approachable person."
"Very surprisingly approachable and very funny," he said of Trump, "and really genuine."
Quaid continued, "He wouldn't be president if he wasn't genuine because people, the people who voted for him, know that he has their best interest at heart, that he is a genuine person."
The Parent Trapactor also said he recalls Trump discussing some of what he has now done as president long before he first sat in the Oval Office.
"He's been talking about it for 40 years, ever since he's been on television," Quaid said of the businessman and TV personality turned politician. The actor then recalled watching Trump on TV in the '90s, and said "he was talking about the very same thing that he's actually implementing today."
"But enormous … I've never seen anybody with that kind of energy," he added of the president. "People say that about me, but he's got it. He's really got a lot of energy."
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Quaid also recalled another presidential encounter that occurred after his then-wifeMeg Ryanwas invited to the White House during the Clinton administration.
"I spent the entire weekend with Bill Clinton. It was just me and him," he told Laurie, recalling how Clinton insisted that the actor stick around and "play golf." Quaid noted: "One thing I will say — that it kind of puts things in perspective — is that they served instant coffee in the morning with breakfast. Pretty bad coffee at the White House."
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"That was one of the only times they're really saving money," he added with a laugh.
Quaid — who has previouslydescribed himself as an independent who has "voted both ways throughout my life"— also opened up about how he identifies politically today.
After Laurie said that "things have gone so extremely, so far left right now," Quaid agreed, and explained his own personal stance.
"I'm a common-sense independent myself," saidThe Substanceactor. "I think I lean more conservative in my head. But I'm just for common sense. It's really what I am."
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Quaid previously praised Trump during his first term for how he was "handling" the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I think the president is handling it in a good way," he toldThe Daily Beastback in 2020. "We see him on television every day, he's involved, and the travel ban early on was a great idea."
"I'm an independent — I've voted both ways throughout my life, swinging like a pendulum toward what the country needed at the time — and I think this might be an opportunity for the country to come together again," added Quaid at the time. "World War II did that for that generation, and this might be our defining moment of a generation. It's going to be a different world, for sure, when all this is over, and hopefully we can all be a bit more unified."
The actor shared a similar message about "coming together" during his appearance onThe Greg Laurie Show, telling the evangelist host, "What I really feel is going on right now if we're going through a spiritual revolution. The whole world is."
"I'm not talking Republican and Democrat either," the actor clarified moments later. "I am talking about those two coming together."
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