Parks and Rec Star Torches ‘Dumb People’ Who Insist His Character Voted for Trump

Screenshot via NBC

Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman blasted fans who claim his famously-Libertarian character Ron Swanson would have voted for President Donald Trump.

In a Friday interview with IndieWire to promote his new film Sovereign, Offerman was asked about his conservative character being “co-opted” into political memes and clips that may “contradict” the character’s actual beliefs.

“Ron Swanson, a wonderful creation from much more brilliant minds than my own, people hold up for the wrong reasons, and take their own reading of this true Libertarian who was cool with everybody. And they somehow say, ‘Well, he had a shotgun, so he must be one of us.’ Like, dumb people insist that Ron Swanson would’ve voted for Trump,” Offerman said.

The actor portrayed Swanson on Parks and Recreation for seven seasons from 2009-2015. He also portrayed a fictional president in the 2024 film Civil War that some critics compared to Trump.

Offerman said he spoke with Parks and Recreation co-creator Michael Schur to confirm that his character would not have fallen in line behind Trump.

“I take it to Mike Schur, the main creator of Ron, and he said, ‘Swanson would’ve despised Trump, because Ron loved capitalism. And Trump made the stupidest move you could make as a capitalist, which is to go into public service,'” he said. “He would think he’s an absolute idiot. He would also despise him because he’s disrespectful to women and many others. And that’s just an example of all the people and value sets that Ron would despise, because Ron is a good person.”

In June, Offerman directly responded to one video of Swanson posted by Michael Flynn Jr., with Swanson throwing a computer into a dumpter. Flynn Jr.’s video, however, replaced the computer with a Pride flag.

“Good morning and Happy Sunday! No quotes today. Just wanted to post how I feel about ‘pride’ month,” Flynn Jr. wrote.

“Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb fuck. #HappyPride,” Offerman responded.