Kathie Lee Gifford, who has long been known as one of the only openly conservative stars in the entertainment world, is speaking out to slam liberal Hollywood. She’s also revealing her fears for America when she looks to the future.
Gifford Sounds Off
“I’ve always felt like Waldo,” Gifford, 72, told Daily Mail in a new interview. This was a reference to the titular children’s book character as unwitting eyewitness to history’s great events.
This was the case when Gifford performed at the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan back in 1985. With a laugh, she recalled, “It’s like, why in the world is this skinny little kid from Bowie, Maryland singing for the president?”
“They needed somebody quickly and I was available, so I just went,” she humbly continued. “Those were the good old days, when we didn’t think about if we’re a Republican or a Democrat, we’re just American. Like a lot of things in my life, it was a fluke.”
Four decades later, Gifford was asked to write a song for the Ronald and Nancy Reagan biopic titled Reagan. The movie, which stars Dennis Quaid and Penelope Ann Miller as the former president and First Lady, will be rereleased on July 4, marking the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
Check out a trailer for Reagan, which was originally released in 2024, in the video below.
Gifford Calls Out Liberal Hollywood
Gifford was drawn to the performance largely because of Quaid’s performance. While she thinks his portrayal of the former president is incredibly powerful, she was never under any illusion that liberal Hollywood would reward him for it at the Academy Awards.
“Dennis Quaid’s performance, I thought, was Oscar-worthy,” Gifford gushed. “I truly did. I said, there’s a possibility he can get nominated for this performance and then I thought to myself, no, it’s Reagan, so they won’t even give it a fair shot. It’s just the world we live in. It’s unfair, and it’s sad to me.”
Gifford went on to say that the politics are not as important as the bigger picture when it comes to this movie.
“This is a love story,” she said. “Yes, there’s politics involved. Yes, there’s history being made. But at its core, it’s a love story.”
Gifford Honors The Reagans’ Love
In honor of the Reagans’ love story, Gifford teamed up with songwriter Richard Spitz to write the duet ‘I Knew It Would Be You.” She then recorded it with the country music star Josh Turner. The song is personal for Gifford, as she had the opportunity to see the Reagans’ love story firsthand.
“You couldn’t be around [the Reagans] without realizing how deeply they loved each other,” Gifford recalled of the former first couple. “It was palpable. It was obvious. They just adored each other.”
Gifford’s late husband Frank Gifford, who died in 2015 after they were married for nearly 30 years, was also a close friend of the Reagans.
“Frank adored Ronnie, everybody adored Ronnie,” she said, insisting that Reagan was not the partisan figure that liberals often portray him to have been. “Ronnie started out as a Democrat. People forget that. He was president of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) Union. This was a moderate, literate and good man.”
Gifford’s Fears For The Future
Gifford admitted that America feels like a very different place than it did during the Reagan years. Though she admits to having fears for America’s future, her deep faith and spirituality also gives her hope.
“I think the world is full of either people that are fearful, or people that are fearless,” she stated. “And I’ve always been more of a fearless person. Am I concerned about certain things? Yeah.”
When asked what those specific “things” are, Gifford purposefully played it coy.
“I met Reverend Billy Graham in my early 20s and he became one of my dearest friends for the rest of his life,” she recounted. “He said, ‘the only thing I really regret that I did in my life that I would like to have back is when I got involved with politics, because the minute you open your mouth, you lose half your audience.'”
“I’ll take someone’s kindness any day over their opinion,” Gifford concluded. “I love our Constitution, and I believe that that grants us the right to think the way we want to, worship the way we want to, and vote the way we want to. And then we deserve the government we vote for. That’s our cherished, cherished heritage.”
Gifford is one of the few celebrities out there who is unapologetic about her love for America. If only we had more stars in this country like her these days.
God bless you, Kathie Lee Gifford!