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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says he was approached not long ago about leading the United States.
On Thursday’s episode of the podcast “What Now,” host Trevor Noah reminded Johnson of a 2021 survey where 46% of respondents said they wanted the actor and former wrestler to run for president. Johnson replied: “I was really blown away, and I was really honored.”
“I’ll share this little bit with you,” he told Noah. “At the beginning of the year — at the end of the year, rather, in 2022 — I got a visit from the parties, asking me if I was going to run, and if I could run. It was a big deal, and it came out of the blue.”
Johnson didn’t specify which political parties approached him, but he told Noah “it was one after the other.” The “Black Adam” star, who moved into acting in 2001 and went on to become one of the surest box office bets in Hollywood, was certainly a popular choice.
“They brought up that poll,” Johnson told Noah. “They also brought up their own deep-dive research and data that would prove, should I ever decide to go down that road, that ―”
“You would be a real contender,” Noah said.
“Yeah,” Johnson said. “And it was all very surreal, because that’s never been my goal.”
Vianney Le Caer/Invision/Associated Press
The “Fast and Furious” star did say in 2017 that he was “seriously considering” a run, but he responded to the 2021 poll by clarifying: “I would consider a presidential run in the future if that’s what the people wanted.”
Johnson reiterated as much on Thursday.
“My goal has never been to be in politics,” he told Noah. “As a matter of fact, there’s a lot about politics that I hate.”
The father of three said he doesn’t look back fondly on “wrestling 230 dates a year” when his eldest child was still young. Johnson said he raised this with “the parties,” and said they assured him that every president manages to do their parental duties on the side.
“I don’t want that for my little ones now,” the actor told Noah.