Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s vow to keep politics “between me and the ballot box” has followed him into a new fight.
The “Fast & Furious” star told Esquire that creating movies and stories is where he wants his public energy to stay, not in the daily churn of partisan combat.
The comments revived a tension that has shadowed him since his 2020 Biden endorsement, with actors George Takei and Wil Wheaton now attacking his silence and comedian Matt Rife jumping in to mock one of the critics.
In Esquire’s Summer 2026 cover story, Johnson put the shift in personal terms, saying his work, not the political arena, is what pulls him forward.
George Takei and Wil Wheaton are at a comic convention bad-mouthing Dwayne Johnson because he won't speak out on politics. They don't realize he's standing right behind them in a DOOM GUY suit. pic.twitter.com/Tpohkqa2XK
— Ray Harvey (@rayh8021) July 1, 2026
“What I have learned through experience is that I need to keep — need, not want — the main thing the main thing,” Johnson said.
“And the main thing for me, the thing that in the morning I swing my legs out of bed and I run towards, is creating. It’s art. It’s storytelling. I’ve learned I’m going to keep my politics to myself.”
Johnson did not present the decision as a promise to avoid every public issue. He left room for moments when he might speak up, admit he is wrong, or explain why he believes a certain position is right.
I love how he’s a “coward” but could quite literally tear Wil’s throat out through his asshole 😂 this internet comment world is so bold https://t.co/J541yxElUt
— Matt Rife (@mattrife) July 1, 2026
“There are moments when, ‘Hey, there’s nothing we can’t talk about. If I’m wrong, I’ll tell you I’m wrong. Or if I feel like I got a leg up and this is the right way to go, I’ll share it with you,’” he said.
But Johnson made clear that the constant presence of politics is not something he enjoys.
🔥🚨LATEST: Hollywood actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson was spotted singing “Welcome” from Moana in London. pic.twitter.com/DvL3lgprbD
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) July 1, 2026
“Politics is omnipresent and it’s forever,” he added. “I don’t like it. I hate it at times. I hate the slinging. I hate all the bulls— that comes with it.”
The stance is a sharp contrast from 2020, when Johnson used his platform to back Joe Biden and Kamala Harris while identifying himself as an independent and centrist.
“As a political independent & centrist, I’ve voted for both parties in the past. In this critical presidential election, I’m endorsing [Biden] and [Harris],” Johnson wrote at the time. “Progress takes courage, humanity, empathy, strength, KINDNESS & RESPECT.”
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He also described the Biden-Trump matchup as “arguably the most critical election out country has seen in decades.”
That posture had already changed by April 2024, when Fox News’ Will Cain pressed Johnson on whether he would make another presidential endorsement.
“The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was what I thought was the best decision for me at that time,” Johnson told Cain.
“Am I going to do that again this year? That answer’s no. I’m not going to do that,” he said.
The scale of Johnson’s audience became part of his regret. He said his enormous reach gave the endorsement weight, but the aftermath left him focused less on influence than on division.
“I was then, the most followed man in the world, and am today, and I appreciate that…” he noted.
Johnson said the reaction to the endorsement stayed with him because of the split he believed it caused.
“Because what I realized that what that caused back then was something that tears me up in my guts back then and now, which is division,” he pointed out.
“And that got me. I didn’t realize that then, I just felt like there was a lot of unrest and I’d like things to calm down.”
By the 2024 race, Johnson said he had decided that another endorsement would work against what he wanted to do publicly.
“The takeaway after that months and months and months, I started to realize like, ‘Oh man, that caused an incredible amount of division in our country.’ So I realize now going into this election, I’m not going to do that,” he continued.
“I wouldn’t do that because my goal is to bring our country together. I believe in that, in my DNA. So in the spirit of that, there’s going to be no endorsement.”
He also rejected the idea that he was staying quiet because he was afraid.
“Not that I’m afraid of it at all, but it’s just I realize that this level of influence — I’m going to keep my politics to myself, and I think it’s between me and the ballot box,” Johnson added.
Bruce Springsteen entered the Esquire conversation when the interviewer brought up the singer’s anti-Trump comments from the “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour.”
The tour began in March, and Springsteen, 76, has used multiple concert stops to criticize Trump.
Johnson’s response to the “overtly political” description was less combative than conversational, as he suggested Springsteen and Trump should sit down together.
“Because when I hear you talk about Springsteen, who I love, and this idea that he’s speaking directly to Trump in his concerts, my first thought as you were telling me that, in my head, I went, ‘Oh, then why don’t they talk? They should sit down and talk,’” Johnson noted. “I don’t know where that goes, but I do know that’s an important step.”
Takei took a very different view of Johnson’s desire to stay private.
“Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s recent comments to Esquire about wanting to ‘keep my politics to myself’ have divided fans, with some calling out his silence,” the “Star Trek” alum wrote on Threads.
On Monday, Takei escalated the criticism with the accusation, “Silence is complicity.”
Entertainment Weekly preserved Wheaton’s deleted Threads attack, in which the fellow “Star Trek: The Next Generation” alum turned Johnson’s political restraint into a character judgment.
“So disappointing to find out he is such a coward,” Wheaton wrote.
Rife turned Wheaton’s insult into a punchline on X Wednesday, aiming his response at the bravery of people attacking Johnson online.
“I love how he’s a ‘coward’ but could quite literally tear Wil’s throat out through his a–hole,” Rife wrote, adding, “This internet comment world is so bold.”
At The Value Conference in September 2024, Johnson used the July assassination attempt against Trump to separate political preference from violence, saying the attack had no place in the country.
“Whether you love Donald, don’t love Donald, it doesn’t matter. They tried to assassinate him. There’s no room for that. Despite it being who we were in that moment, I still believe in my core that is not who we are as a country. So him standing up at that moment, we wanted to see that,” Johnson said.