Here's disappointing news for the 46 percent of Americans who would likely support Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson's presidential run: He's just saying no to being on the ballot.
The Black Adam star, 50, said on CBS Sunday Morning that the idea of running for U.S. president is "off the table" because his priority and focus is his family.
"It’s off the table," the pro wrestler turned movie superstar said, repeating himself for emphasis. "I will say this 'cause it requires a B-side: I love our country and everyone in it. I also love being a daddy. And that’s the most important thing to me — is being a daddy. Number one, especially during this time, this critical time in my daughters' lives."
Johnson is a hands-on dad to Tiana, 4, and Jasmine, 6 with wife Lauren Hashian, sharing many funny daddy-daughter moments on Instagram. He also shares Simone, 21, with ex-wife Dany Garcia, and admitted that, being at a different place in his career when she was young, he missed out on special moments with his eldest.
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"I know what it was like to be on the road and be so busy that I was absent for a lot of years in my first daughter’s [life]," he said. "Growing up in this critical age at this critical time in their life."
So "my number one priority is my daughters," he said. "Sure, CEO sounds great. But the number one thing I want to be is daddy. That’s it.”
The idea of "Dwayne Johnson for president" has been brewing for some time. That was actually the title of an article in Britain's GQ magazine back in 2016. The following year, it crossed the pond when the U.S version of the magazine ran an article with the same title (just adding an exclamation point because it deserved one). The idea continued to gain momentum and in 2018 Johnson revealed hetook meetings with experts from across the political spectrum to "understand more" of what the job would entail. Ahead of the 2020 election, he made his first presidential endorsement, giving his vote to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
The movie star certainly sounded presidential in 2021 when a poll showed that 46 percent of Americans would likely vote for him if he ran. (For context, Donald Trump was commander in chief.) At the time, Johnson spoke of his "goal to unite our country" — and continued to toy with the idea, also saying, "If this is what the people want, then I will do that."
It seems like, at least for now, the public will continue to view him as a quasi-politician. Just this week while promoting his new movie he had a "baby kissing" moment — a campaign tactic politicians have historically used to garner public support — when a stranger passed their infant through a crowd so that Johnson could hold it. Fortunately, he was game. Running for office? Not so much.
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