Actor Dennis Quaid sounded the alarm during a Friday interview on Fox News that a massive, extended power grid failure would make the COVID pandemic “look like a kids’ show.”
During an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Quaid expressed the severity of a potential failure and how it could have widespread repercussions on numerous aspects of human society.
He mentioned his recent voicing of the documentary “Grid Down, Power Up” and suggested that the United States should be taking more action to prepare for a possible power grid failure.
In a reference to his own 2004 climate disaster movie, Quaid explained: “There have been several attacks on substations. I heard about one a couple of months ago. This is not ‘Day After Tomorrow’, by the way, this is tomorrow, I think. It could happen.”
“Just 30 days without electricity, it would take us back to 1880. You wouldn’t be able to get gas. You wouldn’t be able to get food,” Quaid continued, adding that even law enforcement would be severely limited as officers would likely be forced to stay home and protect their own families.
Actor Dennis Quaid sits down with Primetime to talk Hollywood, politics and the vulnerability of U.S. power grids #FoxNews pic.twitter.com/WeTyxJ9EzO
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) March 29, 2023
Watters went on to note that a lack of power would also mean that Americans would have difficulty finding clean, safe water to drink.
“This is something that if it does happen, it’s going to make COVID look like a kid’s show,” Quaid said. “We keep talking about it, but nothing ever gets done.”
During the interview, Watters asked the “Midway” actor about his political views and whether he had faced any pressure not to speak out in Hollywood. Quaid, who described himself as an independent voter who has supported both major parties, said that he had not felt any significant pressure to censor his opinions.
“Depending on which way the pendulum goes,” Quaid said with a chuckle. “I’m not really happy with the way the pendulum is right now.”
Quaid also expressed concern during the interview that the country appears to be more divided than ever before in his lifetime. He emphasized that Republicans and Democrats needed each other to find the best possible balance, but he worried about the extreme polarization of the political environment.
“It usually takes some kind of big thing like World War II really brought — you know we really got our act together when that came up,” Quaid said, as Watters asked whether he believes something momentous like that would happen if there was a significant power failure.
“Oh yeah. For sure. It’ll be — we’ll be back to tribal law by that time,” he said.
