Clint Eastwood: Leaders in Washington 'don't give a damn'

There’s no chair in sight, but that’s not stopping Clint Eastwood from speaking out about his views of Congress.

The “J. Edgar” director — who famously (and/or infamously) delivered a speech to a chair meant to represent President Obama at last summer’s Republican National Convention — tells CNBC that Washington is “in a spot where just nothing’s getting done.”

Eastwood, 82, expressed frustration toward lawmakers during the Friday sit-down, saying, "There's just a lot of people standing looking at one another and maybe it just appears that way to us who are outside of the Beltway.”

Calling the current political climate “very disappointing,” Eastwood says, “I just wish — the election's over, we should be moving ahead. And the leaders aren't stepping up."

Instead, the former Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., mayor contended, “It's almost like they don't give a damn. And so if they don't give a damn, why did they expect anybody else to?"

Asked by “Squawk Box” co-anchor Becky Quick if he thinks the situation is a reflection of poor leadership or the American public not wanting to hear bad news, he replies, “I think [lawmakers] have to hear from the public out there and maybe the public is a little lackadaisical as far as — you know most, the average layman out there [is] sitting going, ‘Well, nothing I can do about it so I’ll just wait it out.’ But meanwhile, don’t want to wait too long.”

Eastwood also addressed his chair-tastic chat at the convention. "Seemed odd at the time. But, you know, I'm an odd person," he said with a laugh. 

"One thing about getting into the senior status of life, like I am, you don't really care," he added. "You just say what you say and then you get away with it."

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