The Rock wants to be president

The Rock wants to be president, and why it might not be a bad idea.

Trump changes everything; regardless of whichever side of the aisle we develop our point of view from, putting him in the Oval Office changes the election game America savvy politicians play every four years. Trump is proof that you can become president even if you’ve never held public office before. Detractors will say that should’ve held him back from victory last November, but the fact of the matter has Trump pulled it off. It happened, and now a precedent is set.

Who’s next to be president? In an era of increasing frustration with “politicians” and “the swamp,” both the Republican and Democratic Parties may benefit from selecting candidates from outside Washington. The Republicans have now had success with this strategy twice now, first with Ronald Reagan, and now with Trump. Reagan was at least Governor of California for eight years, but he was still viewed as an actor and union leader. He felt more like a political outsider, much like Trump does to his supporters. Both Reagan and Trump were dismissed as serious candidates by the establishment in Washington, and their critics paid the price in the Novembers of 1980 and 2016. Both men inflamed their supporters with passionate speeches and were labeled as extremists and simplistic by their detractors. But it worked.

Now, current Hollywood and former WWE superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has encouraged rumors that he is open to running for president in the near future. Johnson is a registered Republican, but he has said he’s open working with congressmen with opposing views. “I wouldn’t shut them out,” he says. “I would actually include them.” Johnson claims he voted for neither Trump or Hillary Clinton last November, and says he refused to endorse either candidate (although he says both Trump and Clinton asked for his endorsement.) “I feel like I’m in a position where my word carries a lot of weight and influence, which of course is why they want the endorsement. 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.”

Johnson is careful not to openly criticize the Trump Administration but has backed away from being too associated with pro-Trump supporters. Earlier this year, Under Armor CEO Kevin Plank, called President Trump “an asset to our country” in an interview on CNBC. Johnson was quick to distance himself from Plank’s views on his social media pages, saying on Instagram, “I appreciate and welcome the feedback from people who disagree (and agree) with Kevin Plank’s words on CNBC, but these are neither my words nor my beliefs. His words were divisive and lacking in perspective.” Johnson went on to say that “Great leaders inspire and galvanize the masses during turbulent times, they don’t cause people to divide and disband.” Johnson believes he would do a better job than Trump at bringing people together. He says, “(And) I feel like one of the qualities of a great leader is not shutting people out. … The responsibility as president — I (would) take responsibility for everyone.”

Who’s to say he can’t? A wildly popular, relevant, box office sensation, patriotic, charismatic, multiracial candidate from Florida (an important swing state) might just be the right man for the job. Certainly, there are a few things to be determined: no one truly has a concrete idea of how exactly Trump’s administration will fare in the next three and a half years. Politics are always reactionary with short memories; if Trump fails as President, it may make the American people less willing to trust a Washington unknown so soon again with the Oval Office chair. Furthermore, The Rock will have to pick a side if he wants a shot at winning. He has a few years to figure it out; it’s not like he’ll run in 2020. Yet it is an interesting ripple in the not-so-distant future that demands closer consideration.