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Oh Sh*t: Now You've Done It, Trump. You've Made an Enemy of Dwayne Johnson

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | February 10, 2017 |

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | February 10, 2017 |


Last week, during a particularly contentious day of politics, I thought to myself: Is there any way out of this? Is there anyone who could actually bring both sides together again? Someone beloved by both Democrats and Republicans, men and women, whites and people of color?

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was my very first thought, and so I wrote a fun little piece in which Johnson announced his candidacy for President. Any other time, no one really blinks an eye at that. This is the sort of thing we used to do all the time (remember our interview with Bradley Cooper?) But we’re in the era of Trump, and enough people thought that one of the most famous people on the planet had announced his run for President of the United States on a third-rate website called Pajiba that Snopes had to write an article fact-checking us! We got Snopes’d!

What an odd time we live in.

Anyway, one of the things about The Rock is that he doesn’t express a lot of political opinions. He clearly has a big heart, and he did make an appearance at the 2000 GOP convention. But he seems mostly apolitical.

Until this week.

Dwayne Johnson is a spokesperson for Under Armour. Under Armour’s CEO Kevin Plank recently described President* Trump as “an asset” to the country. One of Under Armour’s biggest paid ambassadors, NBA Player Steph Curry, quickly chimed in on that comment.

“I agree with that description, if you remove the ‘et.’

Dwayne Johnson was even more vocal about his disagreement with Plank and ultimately with Donald Trump. He was not bashful. He was not ambiguous. Dwayne Johnson ain’t a fan.

There’s a lot here about how Johnson still believes in the company of Under Armour, but adamantly disagrees with Plank’s belief that Trump is an “asset.” Here are the important words:

“These are neither my words, nor my beliefs … great leaders inspire and galvanize the masses during turbulent times, they don’t cause people to divide and disband … I partner with brands I trust and with people who share my same values. That means a commitment to diversity, inclusion, community, open-mindedness and some serious hard work.”

“My responsibility here is not only to the global audience we serve, but also to the thousands of workers who pour blood, sweat and tears into making Under Armour strong” … [the company’s team is] “a diverse group of hardworking men and women, who possess integrity, respect and compassion for one another and the world they live in.”

“I feel an obligation to stand with this diverse team, the American and global workers, who are the beating heart and soul of Under Armour and the reason I chose to partner with them.”

Dwayne Johnson may lean Republican, but he’s not anything like the Republican politicians in Congress or the White House right now. He’s a California Republican, which is further to the left on the political spectrum than a Southern Democrat. He’s good people. And he stands against Trump.