Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has long flirted with the idea of running for president — but when he was approached by multiple parties last year about launching a bid for the White House, the reality that he could become commander in chief seemed to take him by surprise.
In the opening episode of Trevor Noah’s new podcast, What now? with Trevor Noahformer Daily show host asked Johnson, 51, about a 2021 poll that found 46% of American adults would support him as the presidential nominee.
“I remember seeing that. I was like, Damned,” said Noah, 39. “I mean, it either means you’re the epitome of what people would hope a leader would be, or it means things have gotten so bad that they’re like, We need somebody to come in here and beat everybody up.”
Johnson, who has been asked several times about the poll, told Noah he was “thrilled” to realize how enthusiastic some people were about the prospect of him entering politics – then Black Adam the actor dropped the bombshell, revealing that political powerhouses had already reached out behind closed doors to try to convince him to take the idea seriously.
Dwayne Johnson says the possibility of running for president one day is a ‘humbling honor’
Dwayne Johnson and Trevor Noah at the Spotify studio in Los Angeles.
Philip Cheung for Spotify
Elaborating, Johnson said that at the end of 2022, “I was visited by parties. They asked me if I would run and if I could run – and it was a big deal. And it came out of the blue, and it was one after another.”
While he didn’t specify which political parties approached him — or how many — he said each of them brought up the 2021 poll as evidence why he would be a good candidate, adding, “They also brought up their own deep dive research and data that would proved that if I ever decided to go down that road, I would be a real contender.”
“It was all very surreal because that was never my goal. My goal was never to be in politics,” he continued. “Actually, there’s a lot I hate about politics.”
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Through conversations with party officials, Johnson said, he began to think about his three daughters — ages 5, 7 and 22 — and how running for office would risk putting family time on the back burner.
“I know what it’s like to be separated and not be there for birthdays, not be there for pick-ups and drop-offs and everything,” he told Noah, admitting he missed important moments with his eldest daughter, Simone. , who was born at the peak of his wrestling career. “I didn’t want that. I don’t want that for my little ones now.”
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Dwayne Johnson and his daughters. Dwayne Johnson Instagram / Christopher Polk/Getty
While PEOPLE’s former Sexiest Man Alive hinted that he has no current plans to run for president, he left the door open for a future campaign if public pressure ever mounts.
“If that’s ultimately what people would want,” Johnson told Noah in a serious tone, “then of course I would consider it.”
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Johnson has not publicly identified himself with the party, describing himself in 2020 as “politically independent and centrist” and sharing that he has already voted for both major parties as he endorsed the Biden-Harris Democratic ticket.
The celebrity-to-politician pipeline is well established at this point. Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Franken, and Donald Trump successfully made the legislative leap, and many others have tried (see: Dr. Oz, Cynthia Nixon, Herschel Walker, Caitlyn Jenner, Clay Aiken, Ben Savage, even Shirley Temple ).
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Source: HIS Education