After months of speculating about a presidential run, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is finally facing the tough questions about whether he’s even qualified to run for president.
In an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Tapper pressed Smith about his suitability to hold the highest office in American politics.
“You, last month, said that there are clearly other people more qualified to be president than you,” Tapper said. “So what do you say to somebody out there who’s watching who thinks you have no political experience, no foreign policy experience. You’re a gifted TV sports commentator, without question. But are you really prepared to be President of the United States?”
NEW: CNN's Jake Tapper smiles as Stephen A. Smith says he will win if he decides to run for president, says his pastor convinced him to keep the door open.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 4, 2025
The comments come after President Trump said he would "love to see" Smith run for president.
"I believe that if I did take… pic.twitter.com/PwIQLO3T86
After a long, meandering answer, Smith eventually conceded he is not qualified to run for office.
“I’m not prepared,” Smith said. “I’m not qualified. I have no political history whatsoever. I’ve never been interested in politics a day in my life.”
However, when Smith examined the current state of American politics, He stressed that he could still be a better alternative than others.
“I look at our politics,” Smith said. “How worse can it get? (sic) Do you realize right now — and I’m saying this facetiously because I know that you do, Jake, doing what you do every single day — do you realize that if you are an elected official, your real work is with the campaign. Once you get into office … all your job is to do is to disagree with the other side. You don’t even have to do anything else.”
Smith, now seemingly gaining confidence in his political chances as he made his case, emphasized that if he focused on politics, he would win.
“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?” Smith said. “You damn right!
“But it’s by default. It’s not because I’m the most qualified candidate in the world. It’s because of the state of our politics in the nation’s capital, the politicians that we’re looking at, and the fact that we don’t believe for one second that they are serving the interest of the American people, nor are they interested in it. People look at me and they know one thing, I would be interested in serving the American people and doing what’s in the best interest of this country.”
