section_path: Personal life/Political and public views
section_name: Political and public views
paragraph_text: Political and public views
  
  In 2009, Lynch signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski after Polanski was detained while traveling to a film festival arrest on his 1977 sexual abuse charges. The petition argued the arrest would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects".
  
  Lynch said he was "not a political person" and knew little about politics.: 103 Describing his political philosophy in 2006, he said, "at that time, I thought of myself as a libertarian. I believed in next to zero government. And I still would lean toward no government and not so many rules, except for traffic lights and things like this. I really believe in traffic regulations." He continued: "I'm a Democrat now. And I've always been a Democrat, really. But I don't like the Democrats a lot, either, because I'm a smoker, and I think a lot of the Democrats have come up with these rules for non-smoking." He said he voted for Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election; in the 2000 presidential election he endorsed the Natural Law Party, which advocated Transcendental Meditation. In the 2012 presidential election he said he would vote for Democratic incumbent Barack Obama.
  
  In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Lynch endorsed Bernie Sanders, whom he described as "for the people". He voted for Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries and for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson in the general election. In a June 2018 interview with The Guardian, Lynch said that Donald Trump could go down as "one of the greatest presidents in history because he has disrupted the so much. No one is able to counter this guy in an intelligent way." He added: "Our so-called leaders can't take the country forward, can't get anything done. Like children, they are. Trump has shown all this." The interviewer clarified that "while Trump may not be doing a good job himself, Lynch thinks, he is opening up a space where other outsiders might." At a rally later that month, Trump read out sections of the interview, claiming Lynch was a supporter. Lynch later clarified on Facebook that his words were taken out of context, saying that Trump would "not have a chance to go down in history as a great president" if he continued on the course of "causing suffering and division" and advising him to "treat all the people as you would like to be treated".
  
  In one of his daily weather report videos in 2020, Lynch expressed support for Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd. In a 2022 weather report, he condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and addressed Russian president Vladimir Putin directly, telling him there was "no room for this kind of absurdity anymore" and that Putin would reap what he had sown, lifetime after lifetime.
  
  Lynch was present with other Boy Scouts outside the White House at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on Lynch's 15th birthday.: 5 When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Lynch was the first in his school to hear of it, as he was working on a display case rather than attending class.
  
  In 2009, Lynch signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski after Polanski was detained while traveling to a film festival arrest on his 1977 sexual abuse charges. The petition argued the arrest would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects".
  
  Lynch said he was "not a political person" and knew little about politics.: 103 Describing his political philosophy in 2006, he said, "at that time, I thought of myself as a libertarian. I believed in next to zero government. And I still would lean toward no government and not so many rules, except for traffic lights and things like this. I really believe in traffic regulations." He continued: "I'm a Democrat now. And I've always been a Democrat, really. But I don't like the Democrats a lot, either, because I'm a smoker, and I think a lot of the Democrats have come up with these rules for non-smoking." He said he voted for Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election; in the 2000 presidential election he endorsed the Natural Law Party, which advocated Transcendental Meditation. In the 2012 presidential election he said he would vote for Democratic incumbent Barack Obama.
  
  In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Lynch endorsed Bernie Sanders, whom he described as "for the people". He voted for Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries and for Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson in the general election. In a June 2018 interview with The Guardian, Lynch said that Donald Trump could go down as "one of the greatest presidents in history because he has disrupted the so much. No one is able to counter this guy in an intelligent way." He added: "Our so-called leaders can't take the country forward, can't get anything done. Like children, they are. Trump has shown all this." The interviewer clarified that "while Trump may not be doing a good job himself, Lynch thinks, he is opening up a space where other outsiders might." At a rally later that month, Trump read out sections of the interview, claiming Lynch was a supporter. Lynch later clarified on Facebook that his words were taken out of context, saying that Trump would "not have a chance to go down in history as a great president" if he continued on the course of "causing suffering and division" and advising him to "treat all the people as you would like to be treated".
  
  In one of his daily weather report videos in 2020, Lynch expressed support for Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd. In a 2022 weather report, he condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and addressed Russian president Vladimir Putin directly, telling him there was "no room for this kind of absurdity anymore" and that Putin would reap what he had sown, lifetime after lifetime.
  
  Lynch was present with other Boy Scouts outside the White House at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, which took place on Lynch's 15th birthday.: 5 When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Lynch was the first in his school to hear of it, as he was working on a display case rather than attending class.