The race toward 2028 is off, with one possible contender noting he has "no choice" but to consider a run for the Oval Office. That would be ESPN sports analyst Stephen A. Smith, who over the weekend told ABC News that even though "I've never had a desire to be a politician," too many "elected officials" (as well as "pundits" and "billionaires") have approached him about the possibility. "People, literally people, have walked up to me, including my own pastor, for crying out loud, who has said to me, 'You don't know what God has planned for you,'" Smith said Sunday on This Week. "At least show the respect to the people who believe in you ... to leave the door open."
Smith, 57, a registered independent, "has said he has some liberal and conservative-leaning views but identifies as moderately to the left overall," per the Hill, which notes that Smith voted for Kamala Harris in November and said he would "never" vote for President Trump, though he hasn't ruled out voting for GOP candidates. Still, Smith seems most irked by Democrats at the moment, claiming on This Week that instead of warning Americans during the 2024 campaign about things like Trump's tariffs plan for the US, Dems opted to talk about "woke culture, the cancel culture ... abortion rights and all of this other stuff," per Awful Announcing.
Smith said on the program that "I don't mind the thought of tussling with these folks at all on the left or the right," per Axios. "All of them disgust me, to be quite honest with you." And it does look like there's some backing for a run by Smith, who insists he's "very, very happy with my day job" at ESPN after a recent contract extension, per Awful Announcing.
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The site cites a recent Rasmussen poll among 1,000 likely voters that found, in a hypothetical run, Smith would win 24% of the vote against Kamala Harris (with 45%), while he does even better against others: He trails Dem Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez by only 4 percentage points (32% to 28%); meanwhile, he earns 28% against California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's 31%, and 34% to GOP VP JD Vance's 28%. More from Smith himself on the matter here. (More Stephen A. Smith stories.)
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