Stephen A. Smith insists he’s not running for president and isn’t even qualified to run, but if he did, he says he would “beat” any other Democrat in the 2028 field.
During an interview on Tuesday on ABC’s The View, Smith was asked about his presidential aspirations after he mused about a run following favorable polling that showed him very competitive with other Democratic candidates in 2028.
Smith says that his relatively high polling numbers reflect the current weakness of the Democratic field more than they reflect his strengths as a candidate. But don’t get it twisted—Smith still says he would beat any Democrat in the race.
“I make of it that citizens, particularly on the left, are desperate, and I mean it when I say it: I think I can beat them all,” Smith explained. “And I have no desire whatsoever to run for office. I am not a politician. I am not qualified, but I know this much. When you consider who is on the other side and how he’s gotten away with saying very little in terms of being coherent and articulating his thoughts clearly and concisely and what have you, this is not something that he’s known to do. Yet and still, he has owned the Republican party since 2015; not only has he won, but the Republican’s constituency has said we don’t want anybody else but him.”
Smith then turned his attention toward the Democrats, whom he excoriated for their obsession with political vengeance against President Trump and lack of attention toward what was best for the American people.
“In the end, if you think about him being impeached twice, 34 felony counts, 34 felony convictions, and they still elected him president, it’s not about him winning,” Smith explained. “It was an indictment against the Democratic Party and what the Democratic Party was offering to American citizens. We might sit up there and talk about, hey, you should be a party for the working class, which the Democratic Party was once known for. They’re not known for that right now? Why? Because their message was catering towards others and they forgot about the people that brought them there and elevated the Democratic Party to what it was over the last few decades. That’s why they lost. He didn’t win. The Democrats lost.”
