Would you rather have Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as president instead of Donald Trump?
According to one poll, more Americans think they would than not.
As part of a broad-ranging survey released Tuesday, Public Policy Polling asked voters about hypothetical 2020 presidential election matchups. Given Trump’s low approval ratings and the continued investigation into possible ties between his campaign and Russia, it is not altogether surprising that the sitting president did not fare well in many of these polls: PPP had him losing to former vice president Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Al Franken and Senator Cory Booker.
But more surprisingly, Trump couldn’t even best Johnson, who enjoys a net favorability rating of 24 percentage points and leads Trump 42-37, with 21 percent undecided, according to the poll. PPP did not provide a margin of error.
Speculation about Johnson’s political ambitions have been swirling ever since last week, when he was quoted in a GQ profile saying he thinks a presidential run is a “real possibility.” He has since doubled down on those comments, telling Extra that he would “of course” consider a run.
Johnson has spoken at the Republican National Convention in the past and declined to endorse either Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Now, he is just one of several people with no political experience who have been connected to a potential presidential campaign, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, media personality Oprah Winfrey and rapper Kanye West.
At this point, however, analysts say any 2020 polls shouldn’t be taken seriously, and 2016 polls showed some similar joke results — including one that showed a massive meteor destroying all life on earth receiving 13 percent support against Clinton and Trump.
Polls looking ahead to the next election also assume Trump will still be in office at that time. but some oddsmakers think that might not happen. PaddyPower is currently offering 2-to-1 odds that Trump will not be president by 2018, and PredictIt has rated the likelihood of impeachment at 30 percent, according to New York Magazine.
Meanwhile, casinos and betting sites are not giving Johnson good odds to win — PaddyPower and Bovada both have him as a 66-to-1 longshot.
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