Ladies and gentlemen… “Stephen A. Smith 2028” is now officially on the table.
That’s right. ESPN analyst, podcast host and debate master Stephen A. Smith has changed his mind about a potential presidential run. For the longest time – and despite drawing being courted by politicians to consider running – Smith has insisted that he enjoys the line of work he is in (yelling about sports) too much to give it up.
But things have apparently changed.
Polls have long shown that Stephen A. Smith could be competitive as Democratic presidential nominee. That being said, those numbers have never been enough to convince one of the faces of ESPN to leave his network job to pursue a career in politics. He’s been very outspoken about that, as rumors have tried to connect him with a potential presidential run.
Stephen A. has always denied that speculation… that is until he was asked about his political aspirations during a NAB Show in Las Vegas. Here’s what Smith had to say when he was asked about running in 2028:
“Over the last few weeks, I’ve had no choice but to get more serious about it. I’ve been approached by people on Capitol Hill. I’ve been approached by people who are elected officials in office, whether it’s governors or mayors or what have you. People have legitimately, seriously, asked me about it.
I have no desire to be a politician, but I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to close that door. I’m gonna keep my options open. I’m going to entertain the possibility. If it comes in late 2026, 2027, where I look at this country and think it’s an absolute mess and there’s legitimate reason to believe … that I indeed have a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States. I am not going to rule it out.”
Stephen A. Smith is not ruling out running for president
“Over the last few weeks, I’ve had no choice but to get more serious about it. I’ve been approached by people on Capitol Hill. I’ve been approached by people who are elected officials in office, whether it’s governors or… pic.twitter.com/TZnF2pNxqN
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 7, 2025
Who could have seen this coming?
Donald Trump did kind of open the floodgates for non-politicians to run for president back in 2016, when he did so and won. So I guess Stephen A. Smith putting his name into the hat wouldn’t be all that surprising. I just can’t imagine the guy who I grew up watching on ESPN suddenly becoming the POTUS… but I guess Trump was pretty much the same kind of thing since I also used to watch The Apprentice.
I’m just a little bothered that Trump is currently serving his second term, which means that he wouldn’t be able to run against Stephen A. Smith. A in 2028, because a debate between Trump and Smith would do booku numbers. Now that I say that, I’m sure they could find a way to work something out.
After all, it wasn’t too long ago that Stephen A. Smith challenged the Commander in Chief to a good, old-fashioned debate about DEI.
Smith pointed out what he viewed to be some of the inconsistencies of DEI and Trump’s view on it, and cited former Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth, who graduated from Princeton and also served the military, being appointed the head of the Defense Department. He also called out Trump for bringing DEI into the tragic Washington D.C. plane crash.
After a while, Stephen A. finally just decided to challenge every politician he could think of – and specifically Donald Trump – to a nationally televised debate about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
“President Trump, I’m happy to sit down with you to have that conversation, sir. I’d love for you to try to defend it. Vice President Vance, you too. Pete Hegseth, you too. Stephen A. Smith is calling you out on national television. I’d love for you to sit down with the cameras rolling and try to defend this. It’s ridiculous.”
Stephen A. Smith challenges President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to publicly debate the administration’s stance on DEI.
“Stephen A. Smith is calling you out on national television. I’d love for you to sit down with the cameras… pic.twitter.com/aWAK2cM3Gx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 20, 2025
If Stephen A. Smith officially running for president in 2028 is what it takes to make a debate between he and Donald Trump happen, I’m also making an official announcement today…
I’M ALL FOR IT.
