Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has spoken out against President Trump in an impassioned speech supporting the Black Lives Matter movement a week after George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minnesota.
The 48-year-old megastar took to his Instagram this morning to post an over eight-minute video of himself giving an impassioned speech lambasting the 73-year-old former reality star over his leadership.
The Rock began the video with a long pause before staring into the camera and querying: ‘Where are you? Where is our leader?
‘Where are you? Where is our leader at this time? At this time when our country is down on its knees begging, pleading, hurt, angry, frustrated, in pain, begging and pleading with its arms out just wanting to be heard?’
The action star did not name Trump by name in the speech but he did ask for ‘compassionate leadership’ following protests around the world.
He said: ‘Where is our compassionate leader who’s going to step up to our country who’s down on its knees, and extend a hand and say, “You stand up, stand up with me because I got you. I hear you, I’m listening to you.
‘And you have my word that I’m going to do everything in my powAs many oppose the BLM movement with the declaration that ‘all lives matter,’ Johnson addressed the divide between the two sides.
As many oppose the BLM movement with the declaration that ‘all lives matter,’ Johnson addressed the divide between the two sides.
He explained: ‘Of course all lives matter. Every single one. All lives matter because we, as Americans, we believe in inclusivity, we believe in acceptance, we believe in human rights. We believe in equality for all.
‘But in this moment right now, this defining, pivotal, explosive moment where our country is down on its knees — the floorboards of our country are becoming unhinged — in this moment, we must say the words black lives matter. We must say it because so many people believe that they don’t … or at least not as much as white lives.’
Trump has been criticized by many including several celebrities for his response to the protests and even threatened to use the military to clamp down on the protests.
He even used force on a peaceful protest in order to have a photo-opportunity while holding a bible outside of a Washington D.C. church.
Johnson said: ‘I am not the president of the United States, but I am a man and I’m a father who cares so deeply about my family, about my children, and the world that they will live in. I care so deeply about our country and every single person in it.
‘That’s who I am. I am a man who is frustrated, I’m disappointed, I’m angry. But I’m also doing my best to stay focused and as calm as I can possibly be in the pocket to make the best decision for my family and make the best decisions for our country.’
The National Guard has been deployed in several major cities as a reaction to some protests turning violent as Johnson said he believes that this is not the answer to the gatherings.
The Rock said: ‘There is military force that has been deployed on our own people.
‘Looters, yes. Criminals, absolutely. But on protesters, who are begging and pleading, our protesters who are in pain? You would be surprised how people in pain would respond when you say, ‘I care about you.’ When you say to them, “I’m listening to you.”‘
Johnson – who has hinted at a career in politics in the past – also called on individual accountability and leadership.
He said: ‘We must become the leaders we are looking for. I’ll ask it one more time: Where are you? Where is that compassionate leader who steps up and takes accountability for his country and all the people in our country? Where are you? I’ll tell you what, we’re here. We’re all here.
‘The process to change has already begun. You can feel it across our country. Change is happening. It’s going to take time. We’re going to get beat up. We’re going to take our lumps. There’s going to be blood, but the process of change has already begun.’
This comes amid days of protests around the world following George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis last week.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died last Monday after a white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on his head for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, prompting a wave of protests. He was unarmed.
A medical examiner’s office on Monday ruled that Floyd’s death was a homicide as they appeared to walk back initial reports that he wasn’t strangled.
The examiner’s findings that the death was a homicide by asphyxiation confirmed the same conclusion of the independent autopsy that was also released on Monday, but there are key differences over the cause.
Chauvin, who is white and was fired from the Minneapolis police department over the incident, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Floyd’s death roiled the nation, which has sparked mass protests against police brutality across the world.
The Black Lives Matter movement, which was first founded in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman and was nationally recognized for its involvement in the Ferguson protests in 2014 has been galvanized once more following the death of Floyd.