Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson says he considers a White House run “a real possibility”.
In an interview with GQ magazine, the wrestler turned Hollywood producer responded to fans calling for him to take on another role – president of the United States.
The world’s highest-paid actor said he started considering the option after reading an article in The Washington Post arguing he could be a viable candidate after Donald Trump.
“A year ago it started coming up more and more,” he said.
“There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think: Let me really rethink my answer and make sure I am giving an answer that is truthful and also respectful.”
The Rock, as he is known from his wrestling days, told GQ he did not want to rush into any political promises.
“I didn’t want to be flippant: ‘We’ll have three days off for a weekend! No taxes!,’” he said.
But although he refused to discuss politics in depth, he said he considers running for president “a real possibility”.
He also said both political parties reached out to him for endorsement during the last presidential election, which he “did not give”.
“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,” he said.
“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,” he added.
“I felt like it would either 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 do.”
On Donald Trump’s first months in office, Johnson said he’d “like to see better leadership”.
“Personally, I feel that if I were president, poise would be important. Leadership would be important. Taking responsibility for everybody,” he said.
“If I didn’t agree with someone on something, I wouldn’t shut them out. I would actually include them,” he added.
“The first thing we’d do is we’d come and sit down and we’d talk about it. It’s hard to categorise right now how I think he’s doing, other than to tell you how I would operate, what I would like to see.”
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