Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson sparked plenty of headlines after he recently told GQ that “he thinks “it’s a real possibility” that he’ll one day run for president, but there were a plethora of other comments in the interview that deserve just as much attention.
For instance, Johnson remains incredibly secretive when it comes to his current political affiliation, with the mega-popular actor explaining in detail why he opted to endorse neither Republican Donald Trump nor Democrat Hillary Clinton last election cycle.
While he said that both the Trump and Clinton camps reached out and asked for his public support, he wanted to be extremely careful and thoughtful about the impact that an endorsement could have on his fans and on the country at large.
So, he told both campaigns he’d prefer to remain quiet and let Americans’ decide for themselves.
“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,” Johnson told GQ. “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 … I felt like it would either (a) 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.”
Great to see the media community show big luv for @caityweaver's outstanding writing in this profile. So happy 4 herhttps://t.co/7zvXfEACup
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) May 11, 2017
In the end, Johnson’s decision seems to comport with his past bi-partisan — or, perhaps more appropriately, sans-partisan — behavior. The actor spoke at the 2000 Republican National Convention, but he also appeared at the Democratic National Convention that year, using both appearances to try and inspire people to vote; he’s also registered as an Independent, according to GQ.
And when the outlet asked Johnson how he believes President Donald Trump is doing thus far, he was quite careful with his words, speaking about divisiveness, coming together and the tone he would take if he were president — all without directly criticizing Trump.
If Johnson were in office, he said “poise,” “leadership” and “taking responsibility” would be important. He did say, though, that he disagrees with the “Muslim ban,” but predominately stressed the presidential importance of uniting people.
“[If I didn’t agree with someone] on something, I wouldn’t shut them out. I would actually include them,” he said. “The first thing we’d do is we’d come and sit down and we’d talk about it. It’s hard to categorize right now how I think he’s doing, other than to tell you how I would operate, what I would like to see.”
Johnson’s refusal to align too deeply with a political party isn’t really anything new. Back in 2014, the actor made headlines after asking New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to remove his name and likeness from a political video — and Christie complied. The Daily Mail identified Johnson as a then-Republican, but the actor said he is friends with people on both sides.
“I have good friends who are politicians on both sides,” he said at the time. “Clinton is a good buddy of mine, Obama is a good buddy of mine. A multitude of people who are buddies.”
You can read the entire GQ interview here.
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