The Rock seems serious about bid for president: ‘I do have the goal to unite our country’
Dwayne Johnson says he'll run for president if it's "what the people want."
In a preview of his Sunday Today interview with Willie Geist, Johnson, better known as The Rock, speaks more about a potential run for president. This follows his reaction over the weekend to a poll showing that 46 percent of Americans would support his presidential bid.
"In our divided country, there aren't that many people we all agree on anymore," Geist said to Johnson in the preview. "Is that something that still interests you?"
The former wrestler turned action star replied, "So I do have the goal to unite our country. And I also feel that: If this is what the people want, then I will do that."
It seems that it's what the people want — at least those polled by Piplsay. The topic was Hollywood celebs as politicians — and what Americans think about it. The poll results, released last Tuesday, suggested that nearly half of all U.S. adults would vote for him in a presidential election. (The poll was conducted online with 30,138 adults voting between April 2 and April 4.)
Johnson called the results "humbling," saying, "I don’t think our Founding Fathers EVER envisioned a six-four, bald, tattooed, half-Black, half-Samoan, tequila drinking, pick up truck driving, fanny pack wearing guy joining their club." However, "if it ever happens it’d be my honor to serve you, the people."
The movie star has been hinting at a run for office for some time, with British GQ calling for "Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson for president 2020" in 2016 followed by the U.S. edition of GQ touting "Dwayne Johnson for President!" in 2017. In 2018, Johnson revealed he took meetings with experts from across the political spectrum to "understand more" what the job would entail. "I feel like the most respectful thing I could do is just learn as much as I could possibly do," he told Entertainment Tonight at the time.
Ahead of the 2020 election, he made his first presidential endorsement, giving his vote to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. “As a political independent and centrist for many years, I’ve voted for Democrats in the past and as well as Republican,” he said at the time. However, he called the now-president and vice-president the “best choice to lead our country.”
Johnson's political aspirations have also recently played out on the small screen. On his show Young Rock, a comedy based on stories of his youth, his fictionalized older self runs for president in 2032.
He said it wasn't his idea but the suggestion of the show's creator, Nahnatchka Khan, explaining, "She said, ‘What if we set it in 2032 and you're running for president?’ And I said, ‘I don't know, man, feels a little political," he said on the Tonight Show. However, he said he went home and talked it over with wife Lauren Hashian, with whom he shares two young daughters (he's also dad to Simone Johnson), and she thought he should do it.
Johnson's interview with Geist airs Sunday.
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