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Dwayne Johnson Joked That He’ll Run for President With Tom Hanks & We Can’t Tell If He’s Serious

President Donald Trump may be less than halfway through his first year in office, but it’s safe to say that many Americans would probably like a reason to start thinking about the 2020 presidential election already. Former Vice President Joe Biden teased his potential presidential run at the end of last year, but now he may have some competition. After discussing the possibility of him running for president in 2020 on The Tonight Show earlier this week, Dwayne Johnson used his Saturday Night Live monologue to fuel the rumor mill even more, Entertainment Weekly reports.

Kicking off his fifth time hosting the show, Johnson said of the presidential speculation, “It’s very flattering, but tonight I want to put this to rest and just say once and for all, I’m in! Starting tonight, I am running for the President of the United States.”

Like with any SNL joke, I was totally willing to go along with this for the remainder of the monologue, but it suddenly became a little tricky to tell whether or not Johnson was joking. When he surprised the audience by announcing Tom Hanks as his running mate and Hanks popped up onstage, I don’t think any of us were certain if this was fantasy or reality.

“When it comes to politics, we need more poise and less noise,” Johnson said. “Americans deserve strong capable leaders, leaders who care about this country and care about its people.” 

Hanks was also quick to cite the two’s credibility, starting with Hanks’ filmography, of course. “I have been in two movies where a plane crashes, and people are still excited to see me on their flight,” he pointed out.

Johnson and Hanks may very well be joking, but tbh, this presidential pairing doesn’t sound too bad. 

Kristen Perrone is a Siena College Class of 2018 alumna. She studied English during her time at Siena.