The U.S. has already had two Johnsons serve as president: Andrew Johnson served as the nation’s 17th president following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War, and Lyndon Johnson served as the 36th president following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Might there be a third?
Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has repeatedly talked about possibly running for president, and now a recent Instagram post has renewed speculation that Hollywood’s highest-paid-actor might actually do it.
RELATED: “The Rock” endorses Biden for president
Johnson recently took to Instagram to share a graphic that proclaims 46 percent of people want him to serve as president.
“Humbling” he wrote as a caption alongside the graphic. “I don’t think our Founding Fathers EVER envisioned a six-four, bald, tattooed, half-Black, half-Samoan, tequila drinking, pick up truck driving, fanny pack wearing guy joining their club – but if it ever happens it’d be my honor to serve you, the people.”
The Instagram post received more than 5.7 million likes, as of this writing.
The “46 percent” figure cited in the graphic comes from a Newsweek article about a recent online poll by Piplsay showing strong support for a presidential run. The graphic that Johnson shared with his 228 million Instagram followers includes a quote from the article, which reads: “At least 46 percent of Americans would support a presidential run from Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson, according to a new poll.”
According to Piplsay, the online poll surveyed 30,138 people nationwide from April 2-4. It’s difficult to evaluate the poll accuracy, however, since Piplsay did not provide a margin of error or share a detailed description of the underlying methodology.
Still, the fact Johnson shared the results is telling. He also recently spoke with MSNBC’s Willie Geist about possibly running for office, and snippets of the conversation were released in a teaser video for the full interview which is set to air over this coming weekend. According to the L.A. Times, Johnson said, “I do have that goal to unite our country, and I also feel that if this is what the people want, then I will do that.”
Stephen Colbert, however, is not on board. “We don’t need another celebrity in the White House,” he said on his CBS talk show. “Just cause people love something doesn’t mean we should hand it nuclear codes.”
RELATED: Fresh Prince of D.C.: Will Smith says he may run for president
Among other findings released by Piplsay was the answer to the question “Do you think Hollywood stars can make good politicians?” to which it said 63 percent responded yes, 25 percent responded no, and 12 percent said they were not sure.
Join the Discussion