Eva Longoria has already fled Trump’s ‘scary’ America

On November 15, 2024By Littum

A number of celebrities, from Cher to Sharon Stone, have vowed to leave the United States if Donald Trump is elected for a second term as president, but Eva Longoria has already done away with her plan to make her home elsewhere.

The Texas-born actor and director explained in a new profile for Marie Claire that she is done with California and now divides her time between Spain and Mexico. Less than 24 hours after Harris conceded the election to Trump last week, Longoria contacted the Marie Claire writer and said, “The shocking thing is not that he won, it’s that a convicted felon who spews so much hate could have the highest office.”

Longoria, a longtime activist on behalf of Democrats, Latinos and women, spent the last half of the summer campaigning for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

“I’d like to think our fight continues,” Longoria said in the Marie Claire profile published this week. But as the “Desperate Housewives” star was still processing Harris’ loss, she said she can’t pretend to know what will happen next.

America is a “scary place” under another Trump administration, Longoria said. “If he keeps his promises, it’s going to be a scary place.”

Before the election, Longoria told Marie Claire that she had already moved away from California, where she spent “her whole adult life” building her career in television and film.

Longoria, who holds Spanish citizenship, and her producer husband José Bastón, a native of Mexico, have been living abroad with their 6-year-old son Santiago while she works on her CNN miniseries “Searching for Spain” — a follow-up to last year’s “Searching for Mexico,” Marie Claire reported.

Work keeps the couple in Europe, Mexico and South America, and Longoria no longer usually shoots projects in Los Angeles — and she said she doesn’t miss it.

“But even before (the pandemic), it was changing,” Longoria said of Los Angeles. “The mood was different. And then COVID happened and it pushed it over the edge. Whether it’s the homelessness or the taxes, not that I want to (expletive) on California — it just feels like this chapter in my life is finished now.”

“I’m privileged,” Longoria added. “I’m going to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them.”

Longoria’s profile comes as Trump has already announced plans to fill key posts in his second administration with a series of controversial, “picky” picks that CNN and MSNBC reported.

They include the likes of longtime adviser Stephen Miller, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Tom Homan, who would be tasked with making good on Trump’s promise to round up and deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Trump also wants to make Florida’s Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, even as the right-wing provocateur is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for allegations of sexual misconduct. The 47th president-elect has also announced that Elon Musk, his billionaire and ardent supporter, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” designed to “dismantle government bureaucracy, cut excess regulations, cut on wasteful spending and restructuring federal agencies.”

As Longoria said, she is “privileged” and can “get away” as Trump’s MAGA vision takes hold in America.

It was reported by the Daily Mail that Longoria and Bastón, whom she married in 2016, purchased a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion in Marbella, Spain in early 2023. They started sending their belongings to the villa earlier this year. The Daily Mail also said they had lowered the listing price of their eight-bedroom Beverly Hills home from $22.8 to $18.9 million because they were “ready to get out.”

Even outside of the United States, Longoria has kept busy with her career and activism. Turning 49, she has enjoyed a “banner year”, said Marie Claire. Her directorial debut, “Flamin’ Hot,” received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. She went on to work on “Searching for Spain” for CNN, starred in the Apple TV+ series “Land of Women” and performed well in an “outrageous” story arc for the hit Hulu show, “Only Murders in the Building.” .”

Longoria also spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August and released another cookbook last month. In addition, she received a blank check for $50 million earlier this year from billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sanchez to distribute to charities of her choice.

The couple honored Longoria with their annual Courage and Civility Award — an award whose name hasn’t necessarily aged well, as the journalism community accused Bezos of “cowardice” for ordering editors at the Washington Post, which he owns, to make last-minute decision not to endorse Harris, Longoria’s preferred candidate.

Longoria told Marie Claire that she plans to use the $50 million to support causes in which she has been invested. Longoria runs her eponymous Eva Longoria Foundation, which she founded in 2012 to “help Latinas build better futures for themselves and their families through education and entrepreneurship.” Longoria also supports Eva’s Heroes, a group that supports the special needs community, for which she serves as director.

When it comes to advocating for the Latino community, Longoria told Marie Claire that she warned the Democratic Party elite that their support among Latino voters was slipping. While a majority of Latino voters still turned out for Harris this election, Trump won 43% of the Latino vote, an eight-point increase from 2020. It was reported by PBS.

Longoria said she told Democrats that Latino voters had become increasingly angry about the economy and were receptive to conservative appeals, Marie Claire reported. “We’ve been screaming from the highest rooftops that the Latino vote is not something to take for granted,” Longoria said. “You have to earn it and win it every election cycle.”

Longoria said she has been strategizing with the party on how candidates for future elections can turn the tide. “I want to know how we can communicate that government and politics affect your life, whether you like it or not,” she says. “Either you participate in it or you let someone else have the power.”

Originally published: 14 November 2024 at 8:49 AM PST