Actor Mark Ruffalo says 2016 Democratic contender Hillary Clinton could learn from her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
“I think Sanders has a message,” Ruffalo said in an interview published Wednesday by The Daily Beast. “Hillary’s going to have to adopt Bernie’s message, and I think we’re going to be hearing a lot more from Bernie.”
{mosads}“It’s going to be an interesting primary,” the star of The Avengers added.
Clinton is the clear Democratic front-runner, but many recent poll show Sanders, who is also seeking the party’s 2016 nomination, closing the gap in some states.
Sanders is running to the left of Clinton, with a campaign message he says is focused on wealth inequality.
Ruffalo praised Sanders as the 2016’s field most vocal critic of Wall Street.
“He’s the one,” Ruffalo said. “And he’s been there, man.”
Ruffalo also took a swing at the GOP primary contest.
“It’s already a clown show,” he said. “It’s incredible, the shit that comes out of their mouths.”
“They’re going to drive off the cliff,” Ruffalo added. “It’s out of control. There’s no even censoring it anymore.”
The Foxcatcher performer also slammed wealthy special interests for their role in politics.
“Americans don’t want billionaires running our government,” Ruffalo said. “They just don’t. And they’re sick of it. And they’re aware of it.”
Ruffalo’s remarks follow Sanders’s formal campaign launch on May from Burlington, Vt.
The actor had previously endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a favorite of progressives, who has said that she is not going to run in 2016.
Ruffalo also had some harsh words for the media, saying they didn’t cover issues of importance, citing climate change.
“Where it’s headed is significantly ponderous,” he said. “I don’t really see the mainstream media stepping up on that in a way that feels adequate given the threat.”
And the actor said media should do more to highlight the role of money in politics.
“And maybe the corrosive nature of capitalism – really look into what that does when it’s unregulated, undeterred and actually gamed in a lot of ways,” said Ruffalo.
“This isn’t really a free market that we live in – and the relationship between that and our democracy,” he added. “They’re not exclusive of each other.”
This story was updated at 11:52 a.m.