Dwayne Johnson endorses Biden and Harris. Why the Rock’s video shouldn’t surprise us

After briefly flirting with the idea of a 2020 presidential run himself, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has officially endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, his first time publicly backing a political candidate.

“Now this is something that I’ve certainly not done in the past, so I’m going to go big,” he said in a video posted to Instagram. “You guys know me, if I go, I go big!”

The actor, who said he has “friends in all parties,” posted a virtual conversation between himself and the Democratic candidates, in which he complimented Biden’s “great compassion, heart, drive and soul” and called Harris “a certified badass.”

“As a political independent and centrist for many years, I’ve voted for Democrats in the past as well as Republican,” Johnson captioned the video. “In this critical election, I believe Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the best to lead our country and as my first ever [public] presidential endorsement, I proudly endorse them for the presidential office of our United States.”

While Johnson has seemed mostly apolitical in the public eye, he has been outspoken about Trump’s response to the civil unrest sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, sharing a lengthy video message in June.

“Where are you?” he asked Trump in the video. “Where is our leader at this time ... when our country is down on its knees, begging, pleading, hurt, angry, frustrated, in pain ... just wanting to be heard. Begging and pleading and praying for change. Where are you? Where is our compassionate leader who’s going to step up to our country?”

He added: “I’m not the president of the United States, But I am a man, and I am a father who cares so deeply about my family, about my children and the world that they live in. I care so deeply about our country and every single person in it.”