ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith says he has made his final decision on whether to run for president in 2028.
The sports talker has been hinting at a possible run for the White House as a Democrat for at least two years. But now he says he is out for 2028.
Smith revealed his final decision on the Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast, which will go live on Tuesday, after Hannity said he doubted Smith will make a run for the Democrat nomination.
The ESPN talker then admitted that 2028 is probably out for him.
“I don’t think I’m running either because I’ve got to give up my money,” Smith stated in a preview clip release of the podcast Monday.
“Let me put the presidential aspirations to bed. If I have to give up my money, it’s not happening,” said Smith, who makes nearly $40 million a year.
Smith has increasingly taken to making political pronouncements and recommendations on his Straight Shooter with Stephen A show on Sirius X’s POTUS Channel. He has also made no bones about his ideas on politics in countless interviews over the last few years.
His constant stream of political meanderings has sparked rumors that he intended to jump in the race for president in 2024. When that didn’t happen, the speculation moved to his possible 2028 candidacy.
Indeed, just last month he told CBS Sunday Morning that he had not ruled out a run for president in 2028.
“So, when somebody talks about me being a president or whatever, I have no desire to be a politician, zero. … I have no desire to run for office,” Smith said before adding he is “not ruling it out because I’d love to be on the debate stages against some of these individuals that think they’re better suited to run the country. Because I think that the American people deserve to listen to and hear from somebody who genuinely cares about making life better for them instead of yourself.”
In March of last year, he also insisted that if he did run, he could beat any candidate that the Democrats or Republicans put up against him.
“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 told the host of ABC’s The View. “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 went on to tell Hannity that there are three people who stand out to him as good presidential candidates for 2028. Those possible candidates are Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shaprio, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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