VIDEO: Trump Says He’d ‘Love to See’ Stephen A. Smith Run for Office

ESPN hot-take artist Stephen A. Smith picked up a powerful and surprising nod for a possible run for office from the president on Tuesday.

Trump was talking to a NewsNation panel, upon which Smith was a participant, when he told panelists that he thought Smith would make for an interesting political candidate, according to Front Office Sports.

“Stephen A. is a good guy. He’s a smart guy. I love watching him. He’s got great entertainment skills, which is very important. People watch him,” Trump told the panelists, even as Smith was there burying his head in his hands. “I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you, I’d love to see him run.”

Of course, it was not an outright endorsement. Trump seemed to merely be saying that Smith would make an interesting candidate.

Smith has spent a lot of time blasting the Democrats and became a dissatisfied supporter of Kamala Harris well before the 2024 election. After the election, he even admitted that he could consider voting for a Republican because the Democrats had been failing so spectacularly. He has said that the Democratic bench is very “weak.”

“If you’re the Democrats, that’s why Stephen A Smith is in the news,” Smith said on his podcast in February, “because y’all don’t have anybody. You don’t have anybody. Who you got? Who you got? Kamala Harris better not run. She better not run. She’s not going to win a presidency in 2028! Keep in mind respect for her. I’m not going to disrespect the former Vice President of the United States. I will never do that, but we gotta be real about something here. When she ran for election on her own, she couldn’t make it to Iowa in 2020. She ultimately positions herself [and] gets the vice presidency. They win the election in 2020. Joe Biden is feeling himself after the liberals won the midterms, and instead of being a transitional president like he promised, the man backstabbed the Liberal Party and turned around and said, ‘I’m staying.’ They wanted him out!”

Rumors abound that Smith has been steadily testing the waters for his own run for the White House. Despite the rumors, he waved off the speculation in February and insisted that he isn’t making plans for a 2028 presidential campaign.

But Smith, who describes himself as a “political centrist,” has come out in opposition to many of the left’s more radical ideas, including transgender athletes.

But even after all the denials, last month he admitted that he was “leaving all doors open” to running for office.

“I have no desire to do it,” Smith told McVay Media President Mike McVay about his political aspirations. “I’m living a pretty good life right now. Life’s been good. The last thing that I would want to do is involve myself in politics. I’ve always perceived politicians as being professional beggars. I don’t say that derogatorily or anything like that. It’s just the reality. You’ve always got your hand out for something. People always need favors in return. I’m not that guy. So I could never see myself as a politician.”

“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,” he added. “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.”

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