Stephen A. Smith has never been one to hide his own ambitions. It doesn’t matter if it’s being the highest paid person at ESPN or entering the 2028 race for the next President of the United States. He may just do both.
Smith has done more political analysis and appearances even as his ESPN career shows no signs of slowing down. He’s opened up about the presidential election numerous times on his podcast, made several appearances with his friend Sean Hannity on Fox News, and been a regular for NewsNation’s politics coverage.
And his political clout has only increased after Donald Trump won a second trip to the White House in a resounding victory over Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Stephen A. went viral for an appearance on The View this week where he was asked about considering a run for office himself. And like he’s done on countless occasions before, he did not say no.
“If you came to me and you told me I had a legitimate shot to win the presidency of the United States of America, I would definitely consider it.” – Stephen A. Smith on The View pic.twitter.com/Q3Ccdbopws
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 7, 2024
Here’s the truth – Stephen A. Smith should definitely consider running for President of the United States in 2028.
Sure, Stephen A. lacks the kind of traditional political experience that any serious candidate before 2016 would require. He’s not a governor or a legislator or someone with any record of public service.
News flash – we do not reside in that world anymore.
There are no guardrails, boundaries, or requirements to throw your hat into the ring for the highest office in the land. If anything, Smith has WAY MORE political experience compared to Donald Trump at this stage in their lives. Trump burst onto the political scene by making false allegations about then President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Before that, his public image was rehabilitated by being a television star on NBC’s The Apprentice.
Smith has already been a television star at ESPN for decades. And the more he makes appearances across the political spectrum – whether it be Hannity, NewsNation, or The View – the more he’s going to be a legitimate force in that world as well. If anything, Smith made one of the best arguments for Harris in the closing stretch of the campaign that stopped Hannity in his tracks.
As Democrats are in disarray following a nationwide shellacking where Republicans will soon control every level of the federal government, the post-mortems have all focused on how Trump could improbably gain ground everywhere. This was not a 2016 fluky victory. This was total annihilation of the Democratic party and the liberal agenda as Trump became the first Republican to win the popular vote since George W. Bush in 2004.
One of the popular theories for the blowout is the importance of the immense right wing media ecosystem, specifically when it comes to podcasts and social media where those figures dominate the charts.
Liberals have no counter to Joe Rogan or Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly or Ben Shaprio or even Dan Bongino. But they could easily have one in Stephen A. Smith should he choose to go full force into the political arena.
As the country (and the world) tries to process just how Trump could be elected to a second term in office in spite of, well, everything, it’s clear that Democrats need to start over.
And after everything we just saw, does the political establishment really think that running on solid public policy will break through to the average voter? Improving the lives of others on the margins of society? Caring for our planet to stop the irreversible tide of global warming that will leave our grandchildren’s generation wandering through an apocalyptic wilderness fighting mutant creatures? Please!
We live in a post-post-modern world where not only is everything relative, everything is meaningless. Policy doesn’t matter, endorsements sure don’t matter, character doesn’t matter, experience doesn’t matter, even popularity doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, it matters who and how.
Who’s going to be the salesperson right now for the Democratic party that is dripping charisma and gets people excited? Gavin Newsom? Josh Shaprio? Coach Walz? In the words of Stephen A. himself, “Have you lost your damn mind?!?”
There are few greater salesmen in America today than Stephen A. Smith. If he starts in on Trump and the Republican party with half the effort and energy he gives to shredding the Dallas Cowboys, it would be no contest. Trump can’t run again for office (for now), so Smith could be left to face off with one of many of Trump’s Republican yes men that have an ounce of whatever his appeal is to the nation. Stephen A. Smith would dump JD Vance faster than you could say “Max Kellerman.”
The era for politicians trying to be diplomatic is relegated to the dustbin of history. Once Stephen A. calls Trump and Putin “bonafide scrubs” he will cement himself alongside the likes of Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama in Democratic lore.
Much of the liberal world is in a deep, dark depression at the moment. They are contemplating withdrawing from society and letting the world receive what they asked for. But that cannot be the case and the liberal world must not lose hope. Because out there in the distance is a light shining in the darkness that beckons us to move forward. And it is telling us to “stay off the weeeeeeeeed” and pick ourselves up by our bootstraps.
Stephen A. Smith in the Oval Office and Chris Russo popping gummies in the situation room. Let’s make it happen, America. We have no other choice.
