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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Inga Parkel

Dwayne Johnson says political parties approached him to run for president

Getty Images

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has revealed that he was approached by several political parties to ask if he’d consider running for US President in 2024.

In 2021, the 51-year-old Fast and Furious star was the subject of a political poll, in which 46 per cent of US adults said they would support the actor’s presidential campaign.

The findings of the poll were brought up during Johnson’s recent interview on the latest episode of Trevor Noah’s new What Now? podcast.

“That was an interesting poll that happened and I was really moved by that,” the Moana actor said. “I was really blown away and I was really honoured. I’ll share this little bit with you: 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.”

Acknowledging that their support “was a big deal” that “came out of the blue”, Johnson continued: “It was one after the other, and they brought up that poll, and they also brought up their own deep-dive research that would prove that should I ever go down that road [I’d be a real contender].

“It was all very surreal because that’s never been my goal. My goal has never been to be in politics. As a matter of fact, there’s a lot about politics that I hate,” he added.

Johnson first teased the idea of running for president in 2017, telling Variety that he would “100 per cent consider” running for office.

Dwayne Johson
— (Getty Images)

However, in an interview with CBS Mornings last year, he revealed that a presidential run was “off the table”, explaining that “I love being a daddy and that’s the most important thing to me”.

“Being a daddy [is] number one, especially during this time, this critical time in my daughters’ lives,” he said.

Speaking to comedian Noah, Johnson said: “With my 22-year-old daughter, Simone, we like to say that we grew up together.

“I know what it’s like to be in an occupation that took me away. As a pro wrestler full-time, I was wrestling 230 dates a year for years as she came into the world. So I know what it’s like to have that separation and not be there for the birthdays, for the pickups, the drop-offs, and everything else. And I don’t want that for my little ones now.”

He shared that “that was one of my primary discussions with the parties, who were ultimately like, ‘Yeah, but the other ones have done it like this’”.

Johnson has three daughters: The eldest, Simone, 22, whom he shares with ex-wife Dany Garcia, and Jasmine, seven, and Tiana, five, whom he shares with wife Lauren Hashian.

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