Actor and wrestling superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson‘s rescinded endorsement of Joe Biden sparked discussion of “obligation” on The View on Friday.
Johnson went on the record to say he won’t be endorsing Biden this year, despite endorsing him in 2020. While most of the hosts of The View dismissed celebrity influence in elections, Sunny Hostin disagreed, claiming this election is different.
“I do think we’re living in a time where we have someone running for president that is an existential threat to democracy, right? That is where we are at, someone who has been — has 88, you know, criminal charges, four indictments, someone that has vowed to be a dictator on the very first day he takes office,” Hostin said of former President Donald Trump. “Now is the time if you have a platform, you must be active. You must speak out. That’s how I feel, and I generally don’t — I generally don’t think that celebrities should be forced to be politically active. But right now, if you have a platform, you have an obligation.”
“I don’t know that The Rock has a core constituency, it’s not like Republicans or Democrats are waiting to hear what he said,” co-host Alyssa Farrah Griffin disagreed. “The most important thing he can do is encourage those to get out and vote.”
Co-host Ana Navarro recalled the 2000 election when Johnson appeared at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. At the time, he did not endorse any candidate. Johnson explained that he changed his mind about endorsing a candidate for 2024 because he saw the result was “division” among the public, which he said “tears me up in my guts.”
“I think for him, the cause of division aspect is a real one,” Navarro said. “I think everybody is entitled to do whatever the hell they want.”
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All of the hosts are decidedly against Trump ahead of the 2024 election. Even conservative-leaning co-host Griffin, who worked for the Trump White House, has vocalized her criticisms of the former president.
Meanwhile, writer and actress Mindy Kaling, singer and actor Ben Platt, and singer Lizzo gave their endorsements by appearing at Biden’s $25 million fundraising event in New York last week.