Did ‘Star Trek’ Actor George Takei Just Announce He’s Running for Congress?

Star Trek actor George Takei announced early Saturday morning that he was running for Congress. But, it turns out the whole thing was a joke!

“Well, the cat’s out of the bag it seems. Let’s do this! #Takei2018,” Takei tweeted just after midnight on April 1, adding a link to a The Daily Buzz article that claimed he was running for office.

Hours later, the actor told his followers it was all an April Fools Day joke and instead promoted Democrat John Ossoff who is running for the open Georgia U.S. House seat. He shared a photo of himself holding a sign that reads “Gotcha!” with the caption, “No, I’m not running for Congress. Happy 4/1!”

He told The Daily Buzz that he was going to run for Congress and wanted to target California’s 22nd District, which is currently run by Republican Devin Nunes.

“With what is going on now in the country, I couldn’t stand by any longer merely as a citizen,” Takei told the site. “I knew I had to take a bigger stand. So that’s why I’m running for Congress. My hope is to challenge Devin Nunes for his seat in 2018.”

He added, “I think Nunes is vulnerable. And I plan to prove that. People are tired of his a—kissing of Trump. Can I say that? I think I can. These days you can say pretty much anything and not get in trouble.”

Before the 79-year-old announced it was all an April Fools joke, he received positive feedback for his decision and even a few early celebrity endorsements from stars like Mark Ruffalo and Sophia Bush.

“@GeorgeTakei I hope you can count me as one of your early endorsers!! This is great news!” Ruffalo, 49, tweeted.

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This article originally appeared on Womanista.com