Will Smith open to run for president ‘at some point down the line’
Could the A-list actor be moving into the Oval Office someday? Perhaps.
When it comes to the court of public opinion, it often feels like Will Smith can do no wrong. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Hollywood heavy-hitter could see himself running for president someday.
Monday, while promoting his new Netflix series, Amend: The Fight for America, the actor appeared on an episode of the Pod Save America podcast and admitted he wasn’t opposed to running for political office.
“I think for now I’ll let that office get cleaned up a little bit and then I’ll consider that at some point down the line,” Smith told host Jon Favreau on the broadcast.
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Smith also clarified that whether he remains in Hollywood or pivots to politics, he’ll always find a way to use his elevated platform to speak truth into power and advocate for what he believes in.
“I don’t know, it’s like, I absolutely have an opinion. I’m optimistic. I’m hopeful,” he said. “I believe in understanding between people and I believe in the possibility of harmony. So, I will certainly do my part, whether it remains artistic or at some point ventures into the political arena.”
Recently, PEOPLE magazine noted that the 52-year-old has been hinting at political aspirations for over two decades.
“That might sound foolish to some,” he told the NY Daily News in 1999 via Variety, “But, in my mind, if Ronald Reagan can become President, then why not Will Smith?”
16 years later in 2015, Smith said on CBS Sunday Morning that the hateful rhetoric that became normalized during the presidential race between Donald Trump and the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton made him revisit the idea of following in the footsteps of other charismatic actors who became politicians.
“If people keep saying all the crazy kinds of stuff they’ve been saying on the news lately about walls and Muslims, they’re going to force me into the political arena,” he told correspondent Tracy Smith at the time.
He then admitted that local politics wouldn’t be enough, exclaiming, “I mean, I gotta be the president. Come on! What else would I run for?”
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Smith isn’t the only blockbuster leading man eyeing the White House. Last month while speaking with USA Today to promote his new comedy series Young Rock, which is based on his early life, Dwayne Johnson addressed social media rumors that he was open to becoming our commander-in-chief.
“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,” said the former WWE star and father of three. “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.”
Like Smith, this also isn’t the first that we’ve heard these rumors about the 48-year-old leading man.
Back in 2017, when Trump was beginning his term, Johnson confessed to GQ, “I’d like to see a greater leadership. When there’s a disagreement, and you have a large group of people that you’re in a disagreement with — for example, the media — I feel like it informs me that I could be better.”
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