Texas native Matthew McConaughey appeared Tuesday afternoon in the White House briefing room and delivered a fiery eulogy for several of the victims of the elementary school shooting in his hometown of Uvalde.
Not everyone was impressed with the Oscar-winning actor’s sermon, however, as a Newsmax reporter asked him afterward: “Were you grandstanding?”
McConaughey capped a two-day run through Washington, D.C., by honoring several of the children who died at Robb Elementary School last month, wondering aloud whether their deaths could spur legislative changes aimed at preventing future tragedies.
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“How can these families continue to honor these deaths by keeping the dreams of these children and teachers alive?” he asked. “How can the loss of these lives matter? While we honor and acknowledge the victims, we need to recognize that this time, seems that something is different. There’s a sense that perhaps there’s a viable path forward.”
McConaughey discussed how 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez was determined to be a marine biologist, contacting Texas A&M University’s Corpus Christi campus years before she even entered high school. He displayed her green high-top Converse sneakers, complete with a hand-drawn red heart on the right toe that symbolized her love for nature.
“These are the same green converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting,” McConaughey said as his voice quivered and he angrily pounded the podium with a fist. “How about that.”
The actor also recounted his visit to Uvalde, where he was born, which included meeting with victims’ families, funeral directors, and morticians. Further underscoring the horrific nature of the mass shooting, he cited a conversation with one cosmetologist who specialized in mortuary make-up.
“They needed much more than make-up to be presentable. They needed extensive restoration,” he said of the children’s bodies. “Why? Due to the exceptionally large exit wounds of an AR-15 rifle. Most of the bodies were so mutilated that only DNA tests or green Converse could identify them.”
McConaughey appeared on Capitol Hill on Monday to discuss gun-control measures, including at a dinner with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME), according to NBC News. The visit came as a group led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) are negotiating a gun-control package they hope could garner bipartisan support in an ever-gridlocked Senate. The actor also held a private meeting with President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
McConaughey finished his speech with a firm call for more background checks, “red flag” laws, and a law raising the rifle-buying age from 18 to 21.
“Look, is this a cure-all? Hell no,” he said. “But people are hurting. Families are. Parents are. And look, as divided as our country is, this gun responsibility issue is one that we agree on more than we don’t.”
The Dallas Buyers Club star read off some of the names of the 19 victims of the Uvalde massacre before exiting the podium, taking no questions as he departed.
Not everyone in the White House Press Corps appreciated the actor’s speech, however, as one reporter—identified to The Daily Beast by sources in the room as Newsmax correspondent James Rosen—shouted at him: “Were you grandstanding just now, sir?”
—With additional reporting by Justin Baragona.
