Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has declined to comment on persistent rumors he could run for president in the future.
The actor and former wrestler, 53, revealed in 2023 that he had been approached by several political parties about becoming a candidate.
On the semi-autobiographical sitcom Young Rock, Johnson runs for president in 2032.
While appearing at an event hosted by The Hollywood Reporter in front of students at Chapman University in California, Johnson spent a long time answering questions about his life and career before he was asked whether he “might entertain the possibility” of running for president in the future.
“Brother, you’ve asked a lot of great questions,” responded Johnson. “Let’s ask another one.”
Back in 2021, a political poll found that 46 percent of US adults said they would support the actor’s presidential campaign.
When Johnson was asked about the poll in a 2023 interview with Trevor Noah, he replied: “That was an interesting poll that happened and I was really moved by that.
“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.
In 2023, The Independent’s senior Washington Correspondent Eric Garcia wrote: “On the surface, it may seem silly to think about the idea that Mr Rock, a Hollywood actor with no political experience whose political views are entirely unclear, could ever become president. The fact that both parties approached him shows his political ideology remains murky.
“But to borrow a line from The Great One himself, if you do, it doesn’t matter what you think. Remember, the most recent Republican president, Donald Trump, is a member of the WWE Hall of Fame and, like Mr Rock, has been on the receiving end of a stunner from Stone Cold Steve Austin.”
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