Like it or not, setting the record straight about Ron Swanson, his Parks and Recreation alter-ego, is becoming a full-time job for Nick Offerman. Last month, it was Offerman correcting Michael Flynn Jr. about Swanson’s stance on LGBTQ issues. After Flynn used an altered Swanson meme to bash June’s Pride events, Offerman quickly put him in his place: “Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb fuck. #HappyPride”
This month, Offerman told IndieWire that some people are holding up the Swanson character for all the wrong reasons, taking “their own reading of this true Libertarian who was cool with everybody.”
The misguided are saying that Swanson “had a shotgun, so he must be one of us,” Offerman said. “Like, dumb people insist that Ron Swanson would’ve voted for Trump.”
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While Offerman is a fair authority on the character after playing him for seven seasons, he went to Parks and Rec creator Mike Schur to affirm his take on Swanson’s politics. Schur’s position, per Offerman: “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.” (Swanson also took a government job, of course, but Shur’s point remains the same.)
Offerman takes Schur’s stance a step further — Swanson would think Trump is “an absolute idiot,” the actor explained. “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.”
Offerman is getting tired of correcting people on social feeds when they misunderstand Ron Swanson. “Social media used to be a lot of fun,” he said. But now that “people use social media to troll and for violence of many colors, I feel like it’s an exercise in futility. I feel like if I’m loud on social media, it’s preaching to the choir.”
Why go after Flynn then? “I generally will only get loud on social media (like he did with Flynn) where it was using my image and my character for hate,” Offerman said. “I’m going to say something about that. But even that, it’s just dumb, because a troll like that guy, that’s all he wants to do is use my platform to create clickbait.”
Politics aside, playing Ron Swanson also put Offerman in the surprising position of being an “expert” on modern manliness. He never saw it coming. “Suddenly, people were like, ‘Speak to us as the paragon of masculinity. What are your thoughts?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, fuck. I didn’t realize I would somehow become the default, the go-to guy.’”
His take is pretty simple: Boys can make cupcakes, and girls can swing a hammer. Want to be a real man? Offerman offers this advice: “Try to hug someone before you punch them, is my policy.”
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