Hulk Hogan addresses possibility of running for Senate in Florida
Because this is 2018, a year when Donald Trump is President of the United States and Oprah Winfrey or The Rock might one day be, we’re forced to address stories like this one.
Professional wrestler Hulk Hogan is denying any plans to run for the Senate seat in Florida this year and says his answer “at this moment” is a “flat-out no.”
Seriously, this has been somewhat of a thing ever since former Trump advisor Roger Stone said he’d like to see Hogan run against Florida governor Rick Scott in a hypothetical Republican primary. Scott has yet to formally announce his bid, but it’s expected he’ll challenge current Senator Bill Nelson, who has served the state in the Senate since 2001.
But if he’s worried about being hit by Hogan with a metal chair on his way to the general election, Scott doesn’t need to worry about that right now.
“I’ve thought about it — as of late, people calling my phone, driving me crazy about running for Senate. They want me to run for governor, they want me to run for mayor,” the Hulkster told TMZ’s Harvey Levin (via The Hill.) “At the end of the day, I’m just so confused because it’s like watching the politicians — the Democrats and the Republicans — it’s like nobody wants to work together.”
If you were hoping Hogan would put today’s political climate into professional wrestling terms, well, let me tell you something brother, you’re in luck.
“It’s like a wrestling match, with two wrestlers that are supposed to work together and paint this beautiful wrestling picture, the Republicans and Democrats act like they hate each other and they don’t want to do anything except create chaos. So I really don’t want to be any part of that,” he said.
Of course, it’s that type of chaos that would still allow Hogan to have a chance with #FloridaMan, despite stepping on what used to be considered a few third rails in American politics.
The WWE severed ties with Hogan in 2015 after an audio tape surfaced in which Hogan used the n-word during a racial tirade. There was also the highly-publicized Gawker lawsuit, which featured Hogan successfully suing the media company after it published a video of Hogan sleeping with his then-best friend’s wife.
But after seeing Trump bounce back after endless controversy, it’s not hard to imagine the former heavyweight champion of the world wouldn’t be able to launch one of his patented “not dead yet” rallies before executing a figurative leg drop at the polls.
All set to his trademark “Real American” entrance song, of course.
Despite his reluctance to run, Hogan still thinks he’d have a good chance at being elected.
And he’s probably not wrong, despite his only seeming qualifications being a set of 24-inch pythons, a track record of urging kids to take their vitamins and say their prayers and the ability to keep an arena full of fans hanging on his every word.
“After seeing Donald Trump’s fanbase and watching what [former wrestler-turned-Minnesota Gov.] Jesse Ventura did, in the state of Florida, I got a feeling it wouldn’t be that hard,” Hogan said. “I really do.”
