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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Elaborates On Politics, Presidential Run "A Real Possibility"

Published Wed, 10 May 2017 13:25:24 -0500

by Jude Terror

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Last year, we told you about superstar actor and pro wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's presidential political aspirations. At the time, it seemed a little silly, but Johnson has reportedly been giving the matter some serious, and he's revealed in a new interview with GQ that a presidential run is "a real possibility," and elaborated on some of the details of what The Rock might stand for as a presidential candidate.

Johnson says that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's campaigns approached him to ask for an endorsement, but Johnson turned them both down. ""I feel like I'm in a position now where my word carries a lot of weight and influence, which of course is why they want the endorsement. But I also have a tremendous amount of respect for the process and felt like if I did share my political views publicly, a few things would happen—and these are all conversations I have with myself, in the gym at four o'clock in the morning—I felt like it would either (a) make people unhappy with the thought of whatever my political view was. And, also, it might sway an opinion, which I didn't want to do."

Johnson has long avoided taking a side in the political arena, having spoken at a Republican convention and attended a Democratic one. Asked how he thinks Donald Trump is doing as president, Johnson hesitated before providing a perfect political answer: "Personally, I feel that if I were president, poise would be important. Leadership would be important. Taking responsibility for everybody. [If I didn't agree with someone] on something, I wouldn't shut them out. I would actually include them. The first thing we'd do is we'd come and sit down and we'd talk about it. It's hard to categorize right now how I think he's doing, other than to tell you how I would operate, what I would like to see."

Pressed for further comment, Johnson did his best to criticize President Trump without actually criticizing his fellow WWE Hall of Famer: "I'd like to see a better leadership. I'd like to see a greater leadership. When there's a disagreement, and you have a large group of people that you're in a disagreement with—for example, the media—I feel like it informs me that I could be better. We all have issues, and we all gotta work our shit out. And I feel like one of the qualities of a great leader is not shutting people out. I miss that part. Even if we disagree, we've got to figure it out. Because otherwise I feel, as an American, all I hear and all I see in the example you're setting is 'Now I'm shutting you out. And you can't come.' [Disagreement] informs us. The responsibility as president—I [would] take responsibility for everyone. Especially when you disagree with me. If there's a large number of people disagreeing, there might be something I'm not seeing, so let me see it. Let me understand it."

But asked a third time, specifically about the Muslim ban, Johnson could remain partisan no more, saying: "I believe in our national security to the core, but I don't believe in a 'ban' that bans immigrants. I believe in inclusion. Our country was built on that, and it continues to be made strong by that. And the decision felt like a snap judgment. I feel like the majority of, if not all, Americans feel that protection is of huge importance. But the ideology and the execution [of national-security initiatives] is where we really have to be careful of not making those snap decisions, because there's a tail effect… Within 24 hours, we saw a 'tail effect.' It grew to heartache, it grew to a great deal of pain, it grew to a great deal of confusion, and it had a lot of people scrambling."

Johnson also called himself a feminist, and is noted in the interview to be an advocate for mental health, and is a well known supporter of the armed forces. And in addition to all that and being the People's Champion, The Rock even has some foreign policy experience, as he apparently knew about, and tweeted about, the killing of Osama Bin Laden before the information was revealed to the public by President Obama: "The tweet was actually supposed to come out at the same time the president was making his speech, but the moment I sent that out, I got word that now we've delayed the speech a little bit. I was like, 'Ooooh. Okay.'"

So what do you think? Would you vote for The Rock for president in 2020? If you're still on the fence, head over to GQ and read a charming interview with The Great One. Personally, we would probably vote for The Rock. Not necessarily because we support his policies — we don't know too much about them — but because being related to the President of the United States would definitely make Roman Reigns look strong.