'I no longer hope for audacity': Matt Damon turns against Obama as President loses his celebrity friends



Matt Damon joins growing list of celebrities who are turning their backs on the President

Adds Obama's policies on education to list of grievances



Others have criticised him over issues like gay rights and climate change

It appears the list of Barack Obama's celebrity friends is dwindling.

Actor Matt Damon - who was one of the President's earliest and best-known celebrity supporters during his 2008 campaign - said point blank that he was unhappy with the way the country is being run in an interview with Piers Morgan last night.

He also slammed the President for failing to follow through on many of his campaign promises, particularly on education.

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Interview: Damon voiced his disappointment over the way Obama has been running the country to Piers Morgan, particularly in terms of education

U-turn: The Oscar winner was a huge and very outspoken fan of Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign but now said he 'misinterpreted his mandate'

During the interview on CNN, the actor talked about his feelings on the first two years of Mr Obama's administration, among other things.

When asked if he was happy about the way he is running the country, Damon, without hesitation, said 'no', continuing: 'I really think he misinterpreted his mandate. A friend of mine said to me the other day, which I thought was a great line, "I no longer hope for audacity".

Supporter: The Bourne Identity actor, seen right with an Obama pin on his chest, has withdrawn his support of the President over turning his back on policies



'He's doubled down on a lot of things, going back to education... the idea that we're testing kids and we're tying teachers salaries to how kids are performing on tests, that kind of mechanized thinking has nothing to do with higher order. We're training them, not teaching them.'

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, the actor and Oscar-winning screenwriter was a vocal Obama supporter, campaigning for him at rallies, promoting him through a MoveOn video contest and attending fundraisers for him.

This is not the first time Damon has criticized Obama.



WHAT THEY SAID - BEFORE AND AFTER Matt Damon: 2008: 'It is very important for me to do what I can to help the Obama campaign so people will go out and vote.'

2011: 'I really think he misinterpreted his mandate and has doubled down on a lot of things.' Spike Lee: 2008: 'I’m riding my man Obama. I think he’s a visionary.'

2010: 'He has shown no emotion on the issue, if there is one time to go off this is it!' On his handling of the BP oil spill. Barbra Streisand:

2008: 'Barack has awakened in many of us the notion that we can again be hopeful.' 2010: 'I would have liked to have him use his executive privilege … to get rid of something like "don't ask, don't tell".' Robert Redford

2008: 'Obama embodies the sort of change America needs.' 2010: 'The Gulf disaster is more than a terrible oil spill, it's the product of a failed energy policy... Tell President Obama to lead America toward a clean-energy future.' Hugh Hefner:

2008: 'I'm behind Obama, it's time for a change.' 2010: 'Tell him to get out of the wars. we are going through the same thing as Vietnam right now.'



Last year, the actor told reporters he was 'disappointed' and 'a little let down' by the president's leadership - but he was quick to add that Obama deserved 'more time' to work on things.

He also said: 'I'm disappointed in the health care plan and in the troop build up in Afghanistan.



'Everyone feels a little let down because, on some level, people expected all their problems to go away.



'But real change comes from everyday people. You can't wait for a leader.'



Damon is only one more A-lister in a long line of Hollywood stars who have publicly trashed the President on everything from Guantanamo Bay to gay rights.

Barbra Streisand, a prominent Democratic donor, told Larry King that she thought the President should have been more aggressive on certain issues, singling out his slow progress in overturning the 'don't ask, don't tell' ban on gay people serving in the military.

Robert Redford appeared in an ad for the Natural Resources Defence Council urging Mr Obama to show more leadership on energy issues, and in a piece for the Huffington Post, he slammed him for not doing more to press Congress on clean energy.



Glee's Jane Lynch also criticised Obama's handling of gay rights calling him a 'huge disappointment'.

She said: 'We thought the great hope of Obama was going to magically change all that.

'He's just nicely walking the middle.'

Hugh Hefner said he was upset that the President had not done more to end the war in Afghanistan.

He said: 'We're going through the same thing as Vietnam right now. We can't please the world, and all we do is make enemies. We go in with the best possible intentions, but we make enemies.'



