The Rock
Dwayne Johnson has said there's a 'real possibility' he will run for President of the United States.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson just might wrestle Donald Trump for the presidency in 2020.
The former wrestler has previously talked his Presidential desires, but this week, in an interview with GQ Magazine, he made his political aspirational a lot clearer. When asked whether he honestly thought he can give up his life as a celebrity to run for office, Johnson said, "I think that it's a real possibility."
It all started last year when The Washington Post published an op-ed suggesting he would make a great President. A few days later, Johnson posted sreengrabs of the article on his Instagram account.
"Interesting piece from The Washington Post on if I ran for POTUS I could actually win. Writer Alyssa Rosenberg did some pretty good research into my background (slave descendants fighting for their freedom, Revolutionary War etc). Much more to uncover but well done. More and more pieces like this are popping up due to the Presidential election and they're cool/fun to read... I care DEEPLY about our county... and the idea of one day becoming President to create real positive impact and global change is very alluring. Buuuuut until that possible day, the most important thing right now is strong honest leadership from our current and future leaders of this country. Thanks again Washington Post," he wrote.
Despite talking about his political aspirations, Johnson did not go into specifying whether he would run on a Democrat ticket of Republican. Both parties reached out to him endorsements during last year's presidential campaign, but he declined them. "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 dom," he told GQ.
When asked about Donald Trump, Johnson remained at his diplomatic best. "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," he said.
Johnson's comments come amid increasing controversy around Trump's shady firing of FBI Director James Comey. "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,"
His thoughts on the Muslim immigrant ban were pretty clear, however. "I completely disagree with it. 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," he said.
