When Dwayne Johnson joked about one day running for president in GQ, people took him seriously enough to, as last night’s Weekend Update reported, propel him to a landslide victory against current office holder Donald Trump in a hypothetical presidential poll. When Johnson joked again about becoming the leader of the free world on The Tonight Show earlier this week, people went similarly bananas at the idea. So, when Johnson hosted the finale of Saturday Night Live’s 42nd season last night, the “he’s totally kidding… unless he’s not” of “Johnson 2020” took center stage in Johnson’s monologue.
Adding to Johnson’s presidential bona fides (professional wrestling champion, box office megastar, charisma out the wing-wang), this marked his fifth time hosting SNL, granting him entry into the show’s fictitious but still prestigious Five-Timers Club. Welcomed by legendary FTC members Alec Baldwin and Tom Hanks, Johnson took the opportunity to announce that, not only is he, indeed, running, but that he’s picked out an equally beloved running mate—in Hanks. As the two ran down their individual qualifications (fighting in WWII on several occasions, saving the world on multiple occasions), the pair—after dismissing the overeager Baldwin as a PR disaster—proclaimed that, in a country beset with divisiveness, only a Johnson/Hanks ticket could possible bring people together. (That and pizza, but there’s no reason why pizza for all can’t be one of their core values.) Still, the former The Rock has now unveiled his “More poise, less noise” catchphrase on two separate TV shows this week, Hanks seems up for anything, and the pair unfurled a snazzy campaign banner to close out the bit. But it’s all a joke, of course. After all, when’s the last time a celebrity with absolutely no political experience hosted Saturday Night Live and went on to become president?