Evan Handler attends the season premieres of Showtime's 'Dexter' and 'Californication' at the Showtime House in New York City.
Evan Handler, the actor who played Sex and the City’s Harry Goldenblatt and currently plays Californication’s Charlie Runkle, is at the Republican National Convention this week to promote arts funding and education. But that doesn’t mean he enjoys being here.
It's "strange" to be among "people you despise," the actor told Whispers while roaming around a BuzzFeed convention party at the Florida Aquarium Thursday.
Handler said he has been trying all week "to get inside the heads" of Republicans but "can't understand them."
Of the convention speeches, he said: "It's what I like to call a 'phony call to sacrifice.'"
[Clint Eastwood to Give Speech at Convention Thursday]
In Chris Christie's keynote speech at the convention Tuesday, the New Jersey governor repeatedly called for a kind of shared sacrifice, in language that former George W. Bush speech writer-turned-political blogger David Frum tweeted: "Nor is it wise to talk about shared sacrifice when [the] centerpiece of your campaign is a big tax cut for upper-income earners."
Handler said that while Tuesday's speech from Ann Romney seemed effective: "Does that 'I love women' line really work?"
"How can you say 'I love women' when you stand for a party that does no service to women?" he said.
Handler was also upset that federal funding for security at the Republican and Democratic conventions was almost at the same level as the amount allotted for the arts last year. Tampa and Charlotte, where the Democratic convention is being held, received $100 million between them for security measures, while the National Endowment for the Arts had a budget of $154 million last year.
Handler and other Hollywood stars are lobbying for arts funding at the conventions after Romney recently said that as president, he would cut all federal funding to the NEA, as well as PBS and NPR.
Elizabeth Flock is a staff writer for U.S. News & World Report. You can contact her at eflock@usnews.com or follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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