Politics

Richard Schiff says he’s not disappointed in Obama for continuing many Bush policies [VIDEO]

Nicholas Ballasy Senior Video Reporter
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Actor Richard Schiff, best known for his role on The West Wing, told The Daily Caller that he is not disappointed in President Barack Obama for continuing many of the Bush administration’s national security policies.

TheDC asked Schiff why he still supports President Obama after some in Hollywood have expressed disappointment in the president. (RELATED VIDEO: Angelina Jolie sours on Obama)

“Whoever was severely disappointed wasn’t listening to his campaign agenda, his platform. He’s stuck pretty much to what he campaigned on, and I think we kind of projected on to him — whether it’s because he’s a person of color or because he was a community organizer, whatever the reason — he was going to be a lot more progressive, liberal,” said Schiff, at the Creative Coalition’s Inaugural Ball.

“He campaigned on surging in Afghanistan. A lot of people were very upset, including myself, when that happened, but that’s what he campaigned on. Disappointed is not the right word. If you want to contest some of the policy that he’s implemented, great. Write letters, get out and protest, but to be disappointed? I don’t understand that.”

Still, Schiff admitted that Obama’s extension of many Bush policies alienated some of his supporters.

“It’s not anything he didn’t campaign on,” Schiff told TheDC.

Schiff is part of The Creative Coalition, a nonprofit “social and political advocacy organization of the entertainment industry” which “educates and mobilizes leaders in the arts community on issues of public importance, specifically in the areas of First Amendment rights, arts advocacy and public education.”

TheDC also asked singer-songwriter James Taylor if he agreed with Obama’s decision to continue former President George W. Bush’s policies, including the war in Afghanistan and the Patriot Act.

“I wouldn’t second-guess the president, or pretend for a second that I know better than he does,” Taylor said. “He has the information, and I trust him to make those important decisions for us. That’s what it means to have faith in a leader.”

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Nicholas Ballasy