What’s the story?
Donald Trump, a wealthy businessman from New York, shocked the world by defeating the much-fancied Hillary Clinton to win the U.S. presidential elections last year. In the 2020 Presidential elections, however, Trump might face his biggest threat thus far: WWE Superstar Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson.
If the Rock contested in the presidential race as a Democrat, he would beat Trump, says a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling.
In case you didn’t know…
All the talk about the Rock running for President rose to prominence when the former world heavyweight champion himself told GQ that running for the post is a ‘real possibility’. The Rock had stated the following during the interview:
“A year ago, it started coming up more and more,” Johnson 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.’
I didn’t want to be flippant — ‘We’ll have three days off for a weekend! No taxes!’”
In fact, the Rock went on to take a dig at the current U.S. president and was quoted as saying:
"We all have issues, and we all gotta work our s*** out. And I feel like one of the qualities of a great leader is not shutting people out."
Even the Washington Post ran an op-ed which spoke about Johnson being a capable candidate.
The heart of the matter
The polling consensus still showed Johnson leading Trump 42/37 in a prospective contest, winning over 15% of people who supported Trump last fall.
Also read: WWE News: The Rock on why he didn’t attend WrestleMania 33
The results added that “36% of voters see the Rock favourably to 13% with a negative view of him, although 50% of voters have no opinion about him either way. Both Democrats (38/15) and Republicans (31/17) see him positively.”
The poll had The Rock running as a Democrat candidate.
What’s next?
If a real estate developer and former reality TV host can take the Oval Office, there’s no denying that anything is possible in the presidential race.
With Trump embroiled in a number of controversies early into his reign - the firing of FBI Director James Comey and sharing of national security information with Russian officials – Americans might have to think twice before choosing their next leader in chief.
As far as The Rock himself is concerned, he’s enjoying his lucrative Hollywood career at the moment but has received the support of several WWE Superstars as far as his presidential ambitions are concerned.
Author’s take
Unlike Trump’s rhetoric, the American people might be able to connect with Johnson's life story and struggles. Who knows, they might like the sound of President Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
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