Actor and director Clint Eastwood, a longtime supporter of Republican candidates, appeared to back Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg for president and criticized President Donald Trump's behavior in office in an interview published in The Wall Street Journal Friday.

"The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there," the Hollywood conservative said of the former New York mayor, according to the Journal.

Eastwood told the newspaper that he approves of "certain things" that Trump has done as President, without going into further detail.

He said, however, that he wishes Trump would behave "in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names," the Journal reported.

"I would personally like for him to not bring himself to that level," he told the paper.

According to the Journal, Eastwood, who described himself as a libertarian, lamented that domestic politics has become "ornery."

In an interview with Esquire during the 2016 campaign, Eastwood was asked how he'd vote between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

"That's a tough one, isn't it? I'd have to go for Trump ... you know, 'cause she's declared that she's gonna follow in Obama's footsteps. There's been just too much funny business on both sides of the aisle. She's made a lot of dough out of being a politician," he said.

Eastwood also famously spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention, in which he addressed an "invisible" President Barack Obama sitting in an empty chair.

The Academy Award-winning director has held political office himself. He was elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, in 1986 and served a two-year term.

Bloomberg made a late entry into the 2020 race and has injected millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign. The former mayor has pitched himself as a moderate alternative to the more progressive candidates in the race. Because of his late entry, Bloomberg has chosen to skip the early nominating contests and will first appear on the ballot in the Super Tuesday contests on March 3.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/22/politics/clint-eastwood-2020-election-bloomberg-trump/index.html