Another President Washington? Americans elect Denzel as celebrity choice for office

NEW YORK – How close was NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers to being a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election? We may never know the answer, but one thing is certain: Americans love to speculate about celebrities running for office! According to a brand new poll, the country is now apparently most interested in having a new ‘President Washington’ in the White House. However, this time it would be Denzel!

The survey of 2,000 Americans, conducted by Talker Research on behalf of StudyFinds, found that many people are intrigued by the idea of ​​the “Training Day” star running for office, with 15 percent expressing support for the Academy Award winner.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came in a close second, as 13 percent of respondents said they would be interested in voting for the former WWE Champion – who is now aptly nicknamed “The Final Boss.”

The last spot in the top three went to Tom Hanks (12%), followed by Clint Eastwood (10%), George Clooney (10%) and Oprah (9%).

Clearly, there are plenty of celebrities that the American public doesn’t want anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. At the bottom of Talker Research’s list of celebrity political options, brothers Jake and Logan Paul both earned just two percent of the vote.

With that in mind, one in three Americans said they were not interested in voting for any of the celebrity candidates in the poll (36%). Researchers note that this was not due to a lack of choice, as the survey examined the political prospects of approximately forty popular actors and celebrities, ranging from Beyoncé and Jennifer Aniston to Ryan Reynolds and Elon Musk.

While it may seem like a good idea at first glance to nominate a celebrity as your party’s presidential candidate, the poll results showed that doing so might not get you all the way to Election Day. According to the survey, only 28 percent of Americans are at least slightly more likely to vote for a celebrity if they run for president, while only 13 percent say this is “much more likely.”

However, an overwhelming 52 percent claim this would not affect their vote at all – and 21 percent think it would even make them less likely to vote for the celebrity ticket. Similarly, only 17 percent of all respondents believe that ‘fame’ is an important requirement for running for office, while 73 percent believe it is not important for a politician.

Social media presence and influence don’t seem to be a factor either. Only 21 percent would feel at least slightly more likely to vote for a candidate who had a large social media following. For six in ten it has no influence at all on how they vote.

Top 10 Celebrities Americans Would Like to See Become President:

1. Denzel Washington (15%)
2. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (13%)
3. Tom Hanks (12%)
4. Clint Eastwood (10%)
5. George Clooney (10%)
6. Oprah Winfrey (9%)
7. Matthew McConaughey (8%)
8. Bill Gates (7%)
9. Elon Musk (7%)
10. Highlight Cuban (7%)

Research methodology:

This online survey of 2,000 Americans was commissioned by Study Finds and conducted by market research firm Talker Research, in accordance with the Market Research Society’s Code of Conduct. Data was collected from April 3 to April 8, 2024. The margin of error is +/- 2.2 points with 95% confidence. This survey was overseen by the OnePoll research team, which is a member of the MRS and has corporate membership in the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).