Dwayne Johnson is stirring up talk about a possible presidential run after an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “CNN Tonight” Tuesday. Tapper brought up calls for Johnson to run after noting how popular he is, showing footage of him with fans as he promotes his upcoming “Black Adam” film. Tapper noted that last year there had been a big push for Johnson to run for president and asked if the former WWE star and popular actor has completely taken the possibility off the table. Johnson is one of the notable celebrities that Americans seem to favor as a possible political figure, along with other celebrities like Oprah, Matthew McConaughey, and Tom Hanks. A poll last year showed that 46% of respondents favored a presidential run by Johnson.

Johnson’s political leanings have been somewhat ambiguous throughout the years. He had previously identified as a Republican in the early 2000’s, but endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the 2020 election. “As a political independent and centrist for many years, I’ve voted for Democrats in the past as well as Republican. In this critical election, I believe Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the best to lead our country and as my first ever [public] presidential endorsement, I proudly endorse them for the presidential office of our United States,” Johnson said in his endorsement. Others responded with trying to push the actor, who had stated he had considered a presidential run as early as 2017, to run himself. In a 2021 interview with “Vanity Fair,” he had been similarly ambiguous, stating, “You know, at the end of the day, I don’t know the first thing about politics. I don’t know the first thing about policy. I care deeply about our country…And—there’s no delusion here—I may have some decent leadership qualities, but that doesn’t necessarily make me a great presidential candidate. That’s where I am today.” In 2021, the show “Young Rock” premiered which features Johnson running for president in 2032 and reflecting on his life. In an article with “USA Today” about the show, he responded to questions about running for president saying, “I would consider a presidential run in the future if that’s what the people wanted. Truly I mean that, and I’m not flippant in any way with my answer. That would be up to the people…So I would wait, and I would listen. I would have my finger on the pulse, my ear to the ground.”

In speaking with Tapper, Johnson noted that the main reason for putting off a presidential bid in the near future is fatherhood. Johnson has three daughters: Simone Alexandra, 21, from a previous marriage and Jasmine Lia, 6, and Tiana Gia, 4, with his current wife, Lauren Hashian. He noted that his two youngest children are not at an age where he wants to be away from them and that when he was first starting out with his WWE career, he missed a lot of things with his eldest daughter. “I’m just really grounded and humbled by the interest on both sides. But the No.1 job, and my No. 1 title, that I love right now is daddy,” he told Tapper. That doesn’t mean he has kept a presidential run completely out of his mind. “I have seriously considered it,” he said. “You have to. When you start looking at some of these polls, and these numbers creep up into the 46%, 50% of the country would vote for me should I run, and I have been – I’ve been really moved by that. I mean, truly, it sat me down.” Johnson agreed with Tapper that a presidential run could be a possibility as his daughters get older and he is not “closing the door forever.”