Dwayne Johnson revokes Joe Biden endorsement. Wait, is The Rock running for president?
With the American political system on the verge of collapse, who better to save the day than actor and professional wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson? It truly is a sign of the times when you feel more inclined to endorse a Hollywood star than a legitimate political candidate. But is Johnson actually running for president in the 2024 elections? Let’s discuss.
It all began on Friday 5 April 2024 when Johnson sat down for an interview with Fox News. During the conversation, the Moana star revealed that he would not be endorsing Joe Biden in this year’s presidential election. Johnson backed Biden in the incumbent’s 2020 battle against Donald Trump, but when asked if he would offer the same support this year, his answer was definite: “Am I going to do that again this year? That answer’s no. I realise now going into this election, I will not do that.”
“Am I happy with the state of America right now? Well, that answer’s no. Do I believe we’re gonna get better? I believe in that—I’m an optimistic guy. And I believe we can do better. The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was what I thought was the best decision for me at that time. I thought back then, when we talked about, ‘Hey, you know, I’m in this position where I have some influence,’ and it was my job then … to exercise my influence and share … who I’m going to endorse,” the actor continued.
When pressed about who he might instead be supporting, Johnson coyly responded “It is between me and the ballot box.” With such a massive public platform, some have criticised this move, saying that it’s Johnson’s responsibility to actively engage in conversations about politics and policy in order to encourage others to do so.
Interestingly, however, some commentators have speculated as to whether or not Johnson’s hesitations might be to do with his own intentions of becoming a presidential candidate. While the actor hasn’t made any official declarations, he has been dropping a hell of a lot of hints over the years.
For example, in 2023 while appearing on Trevor Noah’s podcast What Now? Johnson revealed that a poll in 2021 of 30,000 American adults led to different political parties contacting him to ask if he was interested in running at the end of 2022: “It was a big deal, and it came out of the blue. 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.”
And this isn’t even close to the first time Jonhson has pondered the idea. During an interview with GQ, the Jumanji actor shared in 2016 that the idea of becoming president was “alluring.” And only one year later, in 2017, Variety revealed that the wrestler was legitimately considering the possibility of running in 2024.
While it wasn’t exactly on my personal 2024 bingo card, I don’t think I would be completely against Johnson swiping the top seat at the White House. I mean, anybody is better than Trump no?
