If there were ever a time in American history that a WWE champ-turned-actor, starring in Fast & Furious 5 through 8 could become president, it's now. Ever since Donald Trump has somehow made his way into the White House, the idea of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson one day settling into the Oval Office is not so outlandish. And based on his new interview with GQ, a "Rock For President" campaign is not out of the question.
You might remember when, last June, Johnson Instagrammed a Washington Post piece saying the actor could legitimately run for president. While he didn't take the idea so seriously at the time, a lot has changed between then and now — and an eventual run for political office is "a real possibility," he told GQ. Johnson, star of the upcoming Baywatch reboot, provided some insight as to what kind of candidate he'd actually be when responding to the question of how he thinks Trump is doing.
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"Personally, I feel that if I were president, poise would be important," he said. "Leadership would be important. Taking responsibility for everybody. [If I didn't agree with someone] on something, I wouldn't shut them out. I would actually include them. 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." Doesn't sound like Johnson is seeing what he'd like to from Trump's White House.
What would a Johnson presidency look like? More inclusive leadership, openness to criticism, and absolutely no immigration bans. "When there's a disagreement, and you have a large group of people that you're in a disagreement with — for example, the media — I feel like it informs me that I could be better," he said, alluding to Trump's opposition to the "fake news" mainstream media. "And I feel like one of the qualities of a great leader is not shutting people out. I miss that part. Even if we disagree, we've got to figure it out. Because otherwise I feel, as an American, all I hear and all I see in the example you're setting is ‘Now I'm shutting you out. And you can't come.’" He continued, "The responsibility as president—I [would] take responsibility for everyone. Especially when you disagree with me. If there's a large number of people disagreeing, there might be something I'm not seeing, so let me see it. Let me understand it."
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As for Trump's highly controversial immigration policy? A hard veto: "I believe in our national security to the core, but I don't believe in a ‘ban’ that bans immigrants. I believe in inclusion. Our country was built on that, and it continues to be made strong by that. And the decision felt like a snap judgment." Johnson, who says both Clinton and Trump asked for his endorsement last year, continued, "I feel like the majority of, if not all, Americans feel that protection is of huge importance. But the ideology and the execution [of national-security initiatives] is where we really have to be careful of not making those snap decisions, because there's a tail effect... Within 24 hours, we saw a ‘tail effect.’ It grew to heartache, it grew to a great deal of pain, it grew to a great deal of confusion, and it had a lot of people scrambling."
GQ also spoke to a couple of industry figures who vouched for Johnson's presidential potential, including movie producer Beau Flynn, who said, "One hundred percent, he would win, I have no doubt." Flynn added, "His level of commitment and his care for people would translate immediately. If he looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I want to build a campaign. I want to run for the president of the United States,’ done, and you can lock it."
The Rock 2020? We're here for it.