ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — After not publicly endorsing any candidate in last year’s presidential election, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson now says he’s mulling a run for office himself.
In an interview with GQ, Johnson says he has “a tremendous amount of respect for the [political] process.” But when both Hilary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s campaigns reached out in 2016 for his endorsement, he chose his words wisely, but didn’t choose sides.
“It might sway an opinion,” he said, “which I didn’t want to do.”
But now the Baywatch star, 45, says a run for office is a “real possibility.”
“A year ago, it started coming up more and more,” Johnson said about reporters asking him about running. “There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think, ‘Let me really rethink my answer’…I didn’t want to be flippant.”
When asked about President Trump and how he’s doing in his first 100-plus days, Johnson talked about how he himself would lead, instead of being critical of Trump.
“Personally, I feel that if I were president, poise would be important. Leadership would be important. Taking responsibility for everybody … I wouldn’t shut [anyone] out. I would actually include them. The first thing we’d do is we’d…sit down and…talk about it.”
“Even if we disagree, we’ve got to figure it out,” he said, imagining critics of a “The Rock” administration. “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.”
Johnson also stated, “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.”
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