The Rock says politcal parties have conducted their own research on Johnson as a presidential candidate
Political parties are seriously interested in Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and are eyeing him for the Oval Office.
The professional wrestler-turned-movie star says he’s been approached by political parties to run for President of the United States after a survey from the New York Daily News cited that 46% of Americans would vote for him.
“That was an interesting poll that happened, and I was really moved by that. And I was really uh, blown away. I was really honored,” he told Trevor Noah on his “What Now?” podcast.
Dwayne Johnson admitted that he has spoken with political parties about running for President of the United States. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
“At the end of the year . . . in 2022 I got a visit from the parties, asking me if I was going to run and if I could run,” Johnson spilled. “It was a big deal. And it came out of the blue. And it was one after the other.”
“They brought up that poll. They also brought up their own deep dive research that would prove, should I ever decide to go down that road. . . .”
“That you’d be a real contender?” Trevor asked.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson says political parties have done their own research on him as a candidate. (Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage/Getty Images)
“Yeah . . . It was all very surreal. Because that’s never been my goal. My goal has never been to be in politics. Matter of fact, there’s a lot of things about politics that I hate,” he admitted.
When the poll initially came out in 2021, he told USA Today he was open to the challenge. “I would consider a presidential run in the future if that’s what the people wanted,” he shared. “Truly I mean that, and I’m not flippant in any way with my answer. . . . That would be up to the people. . . . So I would wait, and I would listen. I would have my finger on the pulse and my ear to the ground.”
Dwayne Johnson says his primary focus is being a present parent for his daughters. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Johnson says it was after he made those comments that the parties pounced.
“But then I really had to double down on this idea, and this is the truth: I’ve got little ones. I have three daughters.” His daughter, Ava, with first wife Dany Garcia is now 22, but he has a seven-year-old and five-year-old with wife Lauren Hashian. “I have a lot of estrogen in my house. And I love it,” stressing the importance of being a present father.
“I know what it’s like to be in an occupation that took me away…I don’t want that for my little ones now. And so, that was my – one of my primary discussions with the parties, who ultimately were like, ‘Yeah but, the other ones have done it like this!’”
Dwayne Johnson pictured with his daughter Jasmine in 2017, has not ruled out running for office. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
“Of course I would consider it,” Johnson said of running for president, if people were really passionate about his candidacy.
“It either means you are the paragon of what people would hope a leader would be, or it means things have gotten so bad that they are like ‘We need somebody who’s gonna come in here and lay the smackdown on everybody,'” Noah joked of the public’s interest.