Stephen A. Smith said he was completely stunned to hear President Donald Trump “endorsing” him as a potential 2028 presidential candidate earlier this week.
In a Sunday morning interview on CNN‘s The State of the Union with Jake Tapper, Smith added, “I was aghast, to be quite honest with you.”
Smith went on to say he hadn’t been “looking for any kind of endorsement from anybody, especially him.” Still, Smith said he “appreciated” getting “a bit of flattery [from] the man who holds the highest office in the land.”
The ESPN host added that if Trump is backing him for a shot at the presidency, it clearly means that “evidently, I have no chance.”
Trump’s comments came as Smith attended a NewsNation town hall on Wednesday night hosted by former Fox News stalwart commentator Bill O’Reilly, moderated by Chris Cuomo. During the event, O’Reilly dropped the president a call and asked if he had any advice for Smith. To which Trump replied, “I’d love to see him run.”
Speculation has mounted over Smith’s political prospects amid reports of a leadership crisis in the Democratic party. Smith—who teased he’d run for high office as a Democrat—has gained attention for his hot takes on the party’s politics.
Smith told Tapper that he won’t rule out the possibility of a 2028, despite not having a political background. Smith said he’d like to see a radical overhaul of the Democratic party first.
“If I had to run it would be as a Democrat, but I’m not happy with the Democratic Party [as it’s] presently constructed,” Smith said. “It would pretty much need to be purged in order for me to assume that I would want to be associated with them.”
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