Hulk Hogan says he’s “thought about” a potential Florida Senate run, but his answer is “a flat-out no” at the moment.
“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 former professional wrestling star, whose real name is Terry Bollea, told TMZ’s Harvey Levin in a Thursday interview, when asked if he’d ever consider running for Senate in the Sunshine State.
“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,” Hogan added. “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.”
Earlier this week, Roger StoneRoger Jason StoneGOP votes to give Graham broad subpoena power in Obama-era probe Will the ‘law and order’ president pardon Roger Stone? Trump retweets message calling for Roger Stone pardon: ‘He can sleep well at night!’ MORE, a former adviser to President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE, said in an interview with Patrick Slevin that he was “focused on persuading” Hogan to challenge Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) in a hypothetical Republican Senate primary.
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“At a minimum, I hope to convince Hogan to body slam Scott in every debate,” Stone said.
Scott hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll challenge Sen. Bill NelsonClarence (Bill) William NelsonNASA, SpaceX and the private-public partnership that caused the flight of the Crew Dragon Lobbying world The most expensive congressional races of the last decade MORE’s (D-Fla.) reelection bid, though Trump has publicly urged Scott to mount a bid.
“I have to say, what do I know, but I hope this man right here, Rick Scott, runs for the Senate,” Trump said in Florida last year.
Hogan, 64, said Thursday that despite supporting then-Sen. Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaHarris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Five ways America would take a hard left under Joe Biden Valerie Jarrett: ‘Democracy depends upon having law enforcement’ MORE (D-Ill.) in the 2008 election, he would potentially run as a Republican. But he downplayed any immediate political ambitions, saying, “Right now, at this moment, it’s a flat-out no.”
The ex-WWE star could face an uphill battle with any Senate bid. Hogan was heard in a leaked 2015 sex tape using a racial epithet to refer to his daughter’s then-boyfriend. The wrestler later said in a 2016 interview that he’s “not a racist,” calling the remark “the stupidest thing I ever said.”
In 2016, Hogan reached a settlement with Gawker Media after the company’s now-defunct website, Gawker, posted portions of the sex tape.
The lawsuit, which bankrupted Gawker, was funded by Peter Thiel, the rare Silicon Valley billionaire who openly supports Trump. Thiel has acknowledged his grudge with Gawker began when it outed him as gay.
Hogan expressed confidence on Thursday about his chances if he were to dive into politics.
“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.”
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