In His Later Years Hulk Hogan Was a Republican, but This Wasn't Always the Case

Following the death of Hulk Hogan in July 2025 at the age of 71, we're taking a look back at the wrestler's politics. Hulk died almost exactly a year after he gave a rousing speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024. The always entertaining wrestler spoke to the crowd as both himself and Hulk Hogan, repeatedly saying the phrase "real Americans.".

You might think there's no place for athletes like Hulk at the RNC or other events in support of a candidate. However, his support of former president Donald Trump is nothing new. In a way, it would be surprising if he wasn't there to rile up the crowd by ripping off his shirt as only Hulk can do. Despite his appearance, he wasn't always leaning conservative. Let's get into it.

Although Hulk endorsed Trump in 2024, he wasn't always a fan of the Republican party. The wrestler supported former president Barack Obama when Obama ran in the 2008 election as the Democratic candidate. A decade later, Hulk considered running for office in Florida, where he said in 2018 that he would run as a Republican, if he were to ever run for office.

At the time, Hulk told TMZ that he saw the success of other formerly non-political individuals and he named Trump specifically as an example to him of how he could make it in politics.

"After seeing Donald Trump's fanbase and watching what Jesse Ventura did, in the state of Florida, I got a feeling it wouldn't be that hard," Hogan told the outlet. "I really do."

Hulk kept that Republican momentum up when he appeared as a celebrity guest speaker at the 2024 RNC. He ripped off his shirt to reveal a Trump-Vance shirt underneath and declared that despite trying to 'stay out of politics," he wanted to "let Trumpmania make America great again!" This is, of course, in reference to his long-running "Hulkamania" tagline.

It's not unusual for celebrities of various calibers to appear at the RNC in support of the presidential candidate. In this case, Hulk was brought on to speak about Trump, but so were reality TV star Savannah Chrisley and model and television personality Amber Rose. Despite Hogan's past with politics, in which he supported both major parties, he supported Trump's third run at the presidency and wanted to support him in the biggest way possible.

"When they took a shot at my hero Donald Trump, I realized that I couldn't be silent anymore," Hulk told Fox News ahead of his appearance at the RNC. "I had to step up, I had to be a real American just like all these real Americans here, and Donald Trump. I have a voice too and I want people to know, it's time to talk, it's time not to be silent anymore."