This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 1, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: He is one of the few people in Hollywood willing to speak out against President Obama. And during the Republican National Convention this summer, movie icon Clint Eastwood made headlines with his harsh critique of the administration.
Now earlier, I had a chance to talk with him about the upcoming election and the state of the country. Just like his speech at the RNC, Eastwood was not mincing words about President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: Joining us now, Hollywood star himself, the one and only -- I guess star of the Republican National Committee as well, that's Clint Eastwood. Clint, welcome to the program. It's great to finally meet you.
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR/DIRECTOR: Good to be with you. Good to be with you, Sean.
HANNITY: I appreciate it. You said you wanted to make three points when you went to the Republican National Convention. You said one, you wanted to point out not everyone is left in Hollywood. You made that point.
You talked about -- you know, Obama made a lot of broken promises. And then the biggest point, if somebody doesn't do a good job, it's OK to let them go. Tell us how you got involved in this?
EASTWOOD: Well, they asked me if I wanted to come back there and be involved with the convention. I didn't know exactly how to be involved. And they -- most of the people are speaking pretty much a scripted, kind of thing.
I just felt -- maybe I just -- I talk a little bit about -- being about things just from the heart. I mean, things, the average citizen wonders about. And wondering why we are at the stage we are with the economy. Why we are at the stage we are in the world.
HANNITY: You know, I tried to warn people about who I thought Barack Obama was. We did a lot of work in 2007 and 2008. You know, kind of came out of nowhere. Never did a big deal in his life. Voted present a lot a state senator. No real accomplishment in the U.S. Senate.
So I looked at his is background. He is a community organizer. He is with ACORN, hangs out with some pretty radical people, Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, et cetera. So I tried to warn people a little bit.
You kind of summed up how I feel now four years after him being president. You said, he's the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. I think this story's going to be written and, you know, you're laughing -- I don't think, for some reason people got caught up in 2008 and it seems many are still caught up today. Your reaction?
EASTWOOD: Well, there are people -- and a lot of -- a lot of people who are -- who feel dissatisfied, from voting for him last time are afraid to admit that they may be made a mistake. It's better to be overly defensive and just say I am voting for him again.
I just try to give people, when I was at the RNC, the idea that maybe they could -- they should think about other alternatives. And you know, rather than just voting a party line. And of course, a lot of people who are on the Republican side, who voted for him last time, will probably have regrets.
But if you have regrets, think about somebody else, somebody who offers something else, like a business background. Governor Romney is a great business background. He is extremely well educated. He has several degrees from Harvard, including, you know, business and including a law degree.
He is just kind of a perfect guy for the job. And I think along with Paul Ryan, you have a great team that is out there ready to go. And I think they can correct a lot of the problems we have had -- I don't know. I just eye think it's kind of -- I hate to get too simplistic, but I also don't want to complicate it. It just the certain feeling you have within yourself. It is time to speak up.
I have nothing against this fellow that's in. I have nothing against any of the people on the staff. I do -- I find in myself feeling very resentful about the whole thing in Benghazi. That's been kind of a tragedy that should have never happened or -- should have been an attempt. All you can ask when there is a crisis like that is to make an attempt. That's the American way.
HANNITY: You know, the thing that concerns me the most. I have been really blessed in this country. Just reading a lot about you before the interview, I know you feel the same way about you can your career and your life.
I followed your whole career and I am a big fan. It really bothers me -- you know, my parents grew up in the depression, to see that right now in America, one in six Americans are in poverty, 25 million Americans unemployed, 49 million Americans on food stamps and in four years, $6 trillion in new debt. We are going to go bankrupt. It's mathematically not going to add up.
I think the thing that really grabbed me when you spoke at the Republican Convention is, towards the end of your speech -- I enjoyed all of it -- but this really grab me when you said, we own this country. And you went on to say, politicians, they are employees of ours. You went on to then go that, you know, it's important to realize, if somebody doesn't do the job, you can let them go.
For some reason, there seems to be an emotional attachment to President Obama. Why is that such an important thing for to you say?
EASTWOOD: Well, I just think it's important -- there is -- the American people deserve -- they deserve the best and -- because they are the best. I have been lucky in my career to have their support, I know a lot of other people have, too in other lines of work.
But, you know, they deserve a really -- straight-forward talk. A lot of -- but a lot of what we are seeing recently is not straight forward. Of course, when you have a political campaigns, naturally, people are insulting one side or the other.
But some of it really has kind of gone to extremes, I mean, accusing one side of killing people and all that sort of thing. And then, of course, you are watching the debate like in the second debate, for instance, there was a big -- the president got very uptight and said, I take exception to this, if you are insinuating that anything went wrong.
You know, when you start overreacting, that's usually a good sign that you are -- you are over selling the point. If you are really -- if you are really satisfied with your position on something, you just say, you calmly present something. If you get in a tizzy over it, then all of a sudden, you go, OK, I am suspicious here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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