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Dwayne-Johnson-1227850739.jpg

Kristen Schaal Calls Out Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Over Political Inaction

By Kristy Puchko | Celebrity | September 14, 2020 |

By Kristy Puchko | Celebrity | September 14, 2020 |


Dwayne-Johnson-1227850739.jpg

There’s been roiling speculation that The Rock might run for president someday. Chiefly, it’s based on the pro-wrestler turned movie star’s undeniable charisma, which has made him an international celebrity. However, Dwayne Johnson’s personal politics are not something he speaks about publicly very often. That’s got Bob’s Burgers star Kristen Schaal frustrated.

Why? How did we get there? Well, it began on Twitter, with Trump misleading his followers again. The president posted a picture of a yard FULL of Trump campaign signs. It’s a picture from 2016, but he doesn’t present it as such.

Then, pro-wrestler turned MCU star Dave Bautista weighed in, commenting on Washington Post columnist Brian Klaus’s Quote-Retweet of the president’s deception.

Next, one of Bautista’s followers begged for his help in getting the Democrats the win in Florida. In response, Bautista subtweeted “Florida residents with much larger platforms then myself.”

Baustisa’s My Spy co-star Schaal then called out Johnson, who has a $3.4 million home in the state.

In replies, the comedic actress’s followers supported her, speculating that Johnson won’t risk his marketability by saying anything remotely controversial. Notably, this is the same criticism that was put before Taylor Swift before she became vocal in her support of voting Democrat during the midterm elections. Her call for fans to register to vote led to an immediate spike in voter registration in Tenessee.

However, Johnson hasn’t been silent about politics of late. In the recent video where he revealed his COVID-19 diagnosis, the A-lister also urged people to wear a mask, a move that’s become insidiously political in no small part because of the president’s refusal to wear one in public. He did not call out Trump directly in the video, though he alluded to politicians. He did criticize Trump on June 4, following the murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police.

In this video, Johnson does not directly say Trump’s name. However, he says, “Where is our compassionate leader who’s going to step up to our country who’s down on its knees, and extend a hand and say, ‘You stand up, stand up with me because I got you. I hear you, I’m listening to you. And you have my word that I’m going to do everything in my power, until my dying day, my last breath, to do everything I can to create the change that is needed, to normalize equality because black lives matter.’ Where are you?”

Here and on Instagram, Johnson said clearly: Black Lives Matter.

View this post on Instagram

Past few days I’ve been stunned trying make sense of George Floyd’s death. The video. The plea for breath. The callous response. The racism. The killing. This is our ongoing disease. I’ve had cops in my family. Good men. And there’s a cop code, granting you the authority to use force if your life is in danger. But when a man is handcuffed, on the ground, no longer a threat, with your brothers in arms standing around watching and he struggles to say, “please I can’t breathe” when your knee is on his neck.. not his back, but his neck - cutting off his air. Cop code must become moral code. Ethics code. HUMANITY code. Knowing that if you don’t ease up, then that man is going to die. So when you decide to not ease up, your intention is to kill. And that’s what this was. George Floyd, said “officer I can’t breathe” as he struggled for air. He said these words a total of 15 times. Not once. Not twice. 15 times. These officers will be charged, I’m positive of that. Held accountable. But then where’s the greater accountability? The leadership to healing. More importantly, the leadership to EQUALITY. We ultimately win when we can normalize equality. I’m so sorry to the Floyd family. My heart breaks for you. Let the process begin now. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #NormalizeEquality

A post shared by therock (@therock) on

Still, could Johnson be doing more? He has 14.8 million followers on Twitter and 198 million followers on Instagram. Trump has 85.9 million on Twitter and 21.8 million on Instagram. Johnson’s every tweet won’t be covered by worldwide media, but his Instagram post about his coronavirus experience was. Imagine the reach he’d have if he said something directly political.

Simply put, Schaal’s got a point. Still, in her mentions, she was scoffed at by those who claim just because a person has a platform doesn’t mean they must use it (for the betterment of their fellow man). Alternately, some suggested Johnson could be planning to vote Trump and doesn’t have any interest in aiding Biden’s campaign.

As for Schaal, she’s using her platform as she sees fit, laying out her politics clearly: