ESPN host and longtime NBA commentator Stephen A. Smith responded Saturday to what he called a “recent endorsement” from President Donald Trump, who backed the idea of Smith running for president earlier this week in a new episode of his show.
He also told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he was “aghast” by the president’s support for him.
Why It Matters
Smith, who has no formal political background, appeared at a NewsNation town hall hosted by Chris Cuomo alongside commentator Bill O’Reilly earlier this week. During the event, O’Reilly phoned Trump and asked if he had any advice for a potential Smith presidential run. “I’d love to see him run,” Trump said.
While the 2028 presidential election is still far away, given the Republicans widespread electoral victory in November, in which they took the White House, flipped the Senate and held onto a House majority, the Democratic party is working out how to rebuild and rebrand.
What To Know
On Wednesday night, O’Reilly humorously asked the president on the phone: “Stephen A. Smith may run for president as you know, do you have any advice for Stephen A, if he launches the run?”
Trump’s responded by saying “No, Stephen A., he is a good guy, a smart guy.” He continued “I love watching him. He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him,” he added that this trait would be crucial for the race, saying “You know, A lot of these Democrats I watch, I say they have no chance.”
The president touted his track record, saying “I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you, I’d love to see him run.”
In an episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show posted on May 3, Smith responded to what he called Trump’s “endorsement,” saying, “Regardless of how some of you feel about him, he is still the president of the United States. And if the president of the United States says something like that, it counts for something.”
He continued that, “I kept the door open for a potential run, because elected official and my own pastor said ‘you don’t know what god has planned for you.'” Smith noted however, “I have never been a politician, I have never been interested in being a politician.”
On Sunday morning, Smith joined CNN’s Jake Tapper on The State of the Union to discuss his reaction to the president’s support of a potential Smith run. “I was aghast to be quite honest with you,” Smith told Tapper.
“I wasn’t looking for any kind of endorsement from anybody, especially him. But he is the president of the United States, there is a bit of flattery that comes with getting such words from the man who holds the highest office in the land, and I can appreciate that,” he said, adding that “evidently I have no chance.”
He later told Tapper that he doesn’t believe he is the most qualified potential candidate, but, “I believe that if I did take this very, very seriously and I moved forward and I decided that I wanted to be a politician, do I believe I could win? You’re d*mn right.”
Prominent Democrats widely speculated to be weighing a run include former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, among others.
What People Are Saying
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said on Saturday that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders are “in the lead right now” for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary.
Prominent podcaster Steve Bannon told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo in April: “Politically, it’s going to help him [Trump] in his reelect in 2028 which he just put the merchandise up last night…We have many different alternatives to make sure President Trump on the afternoon of January 2029 is the President of the United States, many different alternatives. And we will roll those out over time.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said earlier this week on WDRB about a potential presidential run: “If you’d asked me a couple years ago if this is something I’d consider, I probably wouldn’t have. But I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. So, if I’m somebody who can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I would consider.”
What Happens Next
Official announcements for the 2028 Democratic primary are not expected until closer to the election and will serve as a time to potentially rebrand the Democratic Party which had huge losses across 2024 elections.
Democrats are also hoping for a successful 2026 midterm elections. So far, four Senate Democrats have announced they will not be running for reelection, Senators Durbin, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Gary Peters of Michigan and Tina Smith of Minnesota.
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