Hollywood actress despondent over Trump victory feels 'anxiety' for people stuck in America
Eva Longoria, who campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris, thinks America is going to be a 'scary place' with Trump as president
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After President Biden dropped out of the election and endorsed his No. 2, Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a litany of celebrities got to work campaigning for the former prosecutor, including actress and Texas-native Eva Longoria.
"Kamala's success is our success," Longoria told a Chicago crowd at the Democratic National Convention in August. "And she supports us to dream big, too. So let me tell you — in the Latino community, our community — we have a saying, ‘Si Se Puede!'… It means ‘Yes We Can!’ But tonight, I'm here to tell you, ‘Yes She Can!’ So we're going to say, ‘She Se Puede!’"
But she didn't.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Actress Eva Longoria speaks on the Democratic National Convention stage in Chicago on Aug. 22. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Shortly after the presidency was called for Trump, a bruised Longoria tried to remain optimistic. "I would like to think our fight continues," she told Marie Claire in a new interview. She noted that she thinks the country is "a scary place," adding, "If he keeps his promises, it’s going to be a scary place."
While Trump heads back to the Oval Office, Longoria will flock back to one of her two homes outside the U.S. For several years, the "Desperate Housewives" star has been splitting her time between Spain and Mexico with her husband, José Bastón, and their 6-year-old son, Santiago.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’m privileged," she acknowledged. "I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them."
Longoria and her husband José Bastón currently split their time between Spain and Mexico, where he's from. (Jose Ruiz/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Despite Trump being named president-elect, the element of shock has dwindled for Longoria, who retreated to her bed when he was first elected in 2016. "I’ve never been depressed in my life," she remembered of that time. "It was like, ‘Does my vote really matter? Am I really making a difference?’" she said. "I was so untethered to the core of what I believe because I truly believed in my soul that the best person wins. And then that happened, and I was like, ‘Oh, wait. The best person doesn’t win.’"
In 2016, Longoria was an outspoken and active campaigner for Hillary Clinton. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)
Days after the 2024 election, Longoria was able to say she wasn't stunned by the election results for the same reasons she'd been once before. "The shocking part is not that he won," she admitted. "It’s that a convicted criminal who spews so much hate could hold the highest office."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Longoria says the most shocking element about Trump winning is that people would elect a "convicted criminal." (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images/Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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"If [Trump] keeps his promises, it’s going to be a scary place."
Longoria noted in the interview that she lived in the U.S. for her "whole adult life."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But even before [the pandemic], it was changing. The vibe was different. And then COVID happened, and it pushed it over the edge. Whether it’s the homelessness or the taxes, not that I want to s--- on California — it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now," she said.
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Longoria, out in New York City days before the election, is photographed pointing to her "I VOTED" sticker on her coat's lapel. (TheStewartofNY/GC Images/Getty Images)