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Michael J. Fox Claims His ‘Family Ties’ Character Would Have Left Republican Party Long Ago

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Michael J. Fox rose to fame in the 1980s playing the Ronald Reagan-loving Republican Alex Keaton on the sitcom “Family Ties.” In a new interview, however, Fox is claiming that his iconic character would no longer be in the Republican Party.

Fox Sounds Off About Alex Keaton

“He would have left,” Fox, 61, told Variety. “I don’t think Alex would even see Republican and Democrat now. He’d see normal people and crazy, fascist weirdos.”

This isn’t the first time that Fox has tried to separate his character of Keaton from the GOP.

“I don’t think he’d think much of Trump,” he said in 2020, according to Fox News. “I think he would have liked [George] Bush. I think he would have liked [Mitt] Romney.”

“I think he would have liked a lot of these [Republican] guys, but I don’t think he would have dug Trump,” he continued.

Fox’s Parkinson’s Battle

Fox is currently promoting his new documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which dropped on Apple TV+ last week. In this film, Fox opens up about his battle with Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with back in 1991, like never before.

“I broke this shoulder — had it replaced. I broke this elbow. I broke this hand. I had an infection that almost cost me this finger. I broke my face. I broke this humerus,” Fox said. “And that sucked.

Fox went on to say that these days, he has “aides around me quite a bit of the time in case I fall, and that lack of privacy is hard to deal with.”

Fox Doesn’t Want Sympathy

Despite this Parkinson’s battle, Fox doesn’t want any sympathy.

“I’ve won more awards and had more nominations since I announced my diagnosis,” he said of his career. “It may be that people feel bad for me, but I prefer to look at it as an acknowledgment for continuing to have a legitimate career.”

Fox was forced to officially retire from acting in 2020, saying that he was doing so because he was starting to struggle to remember his lines, according to Entertainment Tonight. He feels that one of the worst things that he’s lost is the comedic timing that made him so famous in the 1980s.

“I sometimes have a fleeting moment of disappointment when a really great joke comes out and lands flat because people can’t understand what I’m saying,” he lamented. “It’s not like you can just repeat it. It’s dead on arrival. But you find ways to navigate it.”

Michael J. Fox Foundation

Fox launched the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in 2000, and it has since raised over $1.5 billion for Parkinson’s research. Though Fox is widely praised for his philanthropic efforts, he’s nothing but humble in response.

“It’s just a nice way of people letting me know they are moved by my acceptance of things and by the way that I’ve tried to make a difference,” he admitted.

“But no matter how much I sit here and talk to you about how I’ve philosophically accepted it and taken its weight, Parkinson’s is still kicking my ass. I won’t win at this. I will lose,” he concluded. “But, there’s plenty to be gained in the loss.”

While we have the utmost sympathy for Fox’s battle with Parkinson’s, it’s unfortunate that he feels the need to distance one of his most iconic fictional characters from the Republican Party. Fox may think Alex Keaton would not be part of the Republican Party anymore, but in the end, there will never be any way to know that for sure.

James Conrad

James Conrad’s passion for politics is only overshadowed by his longstanding interest in Hollywood. His unique perspective as a gay conservative fuels him to challenge celebrity views and those who think they have a right to tell anyone how to think or vote. James proudly wields his minority point of view to combat identity politics and cut through his typecast. Fun fact: James’ guilty pleasure is the British royal family.