Show caption Dwayne Johnson said he had been approached by both the Trump and Clinton campaigns for an endorsement in the run-up to November’s election. Photograph: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) Rock the vote: Dwayne Johnson says running for president is ‘real possibility’ Actor criticises Trump administration’s travel ban as at odds with American values and says his own policies would be based on inclusion and cooperation Gwilym Mumford Thu 11 May 2017 05.06 EDT Share on Facebook

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Dwayne Johnson has said that there is “a real possibility” that he will one day run for US president.

The wrestler-turned-actor, best known for his appearances in the Fast and the Furious franchise, made the comments during an interview with GQ in which he also criticised Donald Trump’s notorious travel ban.

Johnson, who has spoken previously about a possible career in politics, said that he began to consider the prospect of a presidential run after reading an article in the Washington Post that suggested him as a viable candidate.



“A year ago it started coming up more and more,” he said. “There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think, ‘Let me really rethink my answer and make sure I am giving an answer that is truthful and also respectful.’”

Johnson, who did not declare allegiances to either the Democrats or Republicans, said his campaign would be built on cooperation and inclusion.

“[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. 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.”

Johnson was reluctant to criticise Trump, saying that it was “hard to categorise right now how I think he’s doing”. He did, however, condemn the administration’s attempt to ban entry to the US from several Muslim-majority countries.

“I completely disagree with it,” Johnson said. “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 … 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.”

Johnson also revealed that he was approached by the presidential campaigns of both Trump and Hillary Clinton for an endorsement, but declined the offers.

“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,” he said. “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 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.”